Artemis Fowl and the Ark of Triumph
by Doctor Kaminari
Summary: Adversaries old and new have joined forces, and are threatening the survival of Haven. Now Artemis and Holly must once again race to save the world - the future of the People depends on them. Full summary inside. Spoilers for TLC. Slight A/H. Please R&R!
1. Prologue

Welcome to my first serious Artemis Fowl story. This particular event takes place between TLC and TTP, so if you haven't read TLC, there are some serious spoilers in here. Read at your own risk! There are also some spoilers for TTP in the epilogue, so stop reading when it tells you to _if _you haven't actually read the book.

To stay as close to canon as possible, I'm correcting various aspects of the plot, as explained in book 6,_ The Time Paradox_. By the way, if you spot any continuity errors, please tell in a review! Thanks.

And last but not least, please R&R!

**Overall Disclaimer For The Entire Story: I do _not _own Artemis Fowl, or any of his family, associates, and friends. All I own is the plot, and... uh... that's it...**

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**Artemis Fowl and the Ark of Triumph**

Book 1 of **T****he**** Fallen Acorn Trilogy**

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Things are never going to be the same again...

Criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl the Second is back on Earth, albeit being 3 years absent, and has joined forces with fellow criminal mastermind, the beautiful Minerva Paradizo. Artemis' parents are overjoyed that their son was still alive, and so are Butler and his sister Juliet, and of course, Minerva. But not all things are the same for Artemis, for his mother had given birth to twins, Myles and Beckett, making Artemis effectively a big brother.

That wasn't the only change for Artemis and his family. During his trip through the time tunnel, he had swapped an eye with Holly Short, newly re-instated LEP Captain, giving him one hazel and one blue eye. And most important of all, he had gained magic.

But all is not well for the fairies. The demons, the eighth family of the fairies, have reappeared on Earth, and are causing trouble below ground. Section 8, a covert section of the Council that was created to handle demons is working overdrive, and may need a brilliant plan to remain covert. However, the hordes of demons are taking orders from a new leader, who has plans to throw the last safe Haven of the People into chaos. Artemis must uncover and stop this fairy before Haven is wiped off the map...

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A very short intro. Don't worry, the proper chapters are nice and slightly long-ish.

_Push this 'review' button NOW, soldier! (and write something, too)_


	2. Reunions

Chapter 1 is up, and compared to the prologue, it's pleasantly long. R&R!

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Chapter 1. – **Reunions**

**Fowl Manor, Dublin, Ireland**

Artemis stepped out of the Fowl Bentley, and cast a glance over the whole estate for the first time in what seemed like eternity.

'I see you've upgraded the security, my friend.' he said, noticing every new camera and motion detector. Butler locked the car and stepped up beside his young charge. He had recently shaved and changed into a Hugo Boss suit, looking much more like the Butler Artemis had left in Taipei before being transported to the land of demons, Hybras.

'It's been strange without you, Artemis,' said Butler, walking ahead. 'Since the birth of the twins, Juliet's retired from wrestling and decided to be the bodyguard for one of them, although she hasn't decided which one. I've called my cousin, Alexei, to come over and be the bodyguard for the other.' He paused briefly. 'The twins had their first birthday a few weeks ago, and it seems they're the only ones around here with permanently happy faces.'

'Apart from when they're hungry, I suppose.' said Artemis, chuckling to himself. He was now an older brother. The notion itself had not yet sunk in, and he knew it wouldn't until he finally saw his siblings, until he held them in his arms. He was genuinely excited, something he definitely would not have been 4 years ago, back when he had first kidnapped Holly.

Butler walked up to the front door, keyed in an 8-digit code, had his retina scanned, then unlocked three complex locks, which required multiple twists and turns for each lock. Not as sophisticated as Spiro's vault door, but secure nonetheless.

Butler held the door open for Artemis as the teenager stepped into the manor. To his surprise, nothing much had changed since he'd left. The entrance hall was still the same, having been redecorated after a troll had rampaged through it, nearly taking Butler's life. Had it not been for Holly (accident or not), Artemis knew that his closest friend and confidant would no longer be with him.

Before the young prodigy could utter a word, a woman dressed in an elegant bathrobe appeared at the end of the corridor, rushed through the hallway, and hugged the teenager as if he might disappear again.

'Oh Arty, oh my dear Arty,' cried Angeline Fowl, stroking her son's raven black hair. Artemis, very unlike his usual self, allowed the tears to well up in his eyes, and hugged his mother back like any other child. More people came into the hallway, hearing the cries coming from the hallway. Artemis Fowl Senior, with his artificial leg, was the second to come running, and joined the hug, sobbing happily.

Juliet, Butler's younger sister, entered the hallway, carrying a baby in each arm, both of them gurgling happily. Because of her load, she couldn't run, but she couldn't hide her relief when she saw the Fowl family together again.

When Angeline finally let go of her son, she rushed over to Juliet and carefully took each baby from the now 21-year-old woman. Angeline, still sobbing quietly, beckoned her son over to introduce him to the twins.

'Artemis, you now have siblings. I want you to take care of them, because you are an older brother now. This is Myles,' who promptly giggled and reached out towards his elder brother. 'And this is Beckett,' nodding towards the other boy in her arms, who appeared to be much more active. She carefully handed Myles to his older brother.

Artemis held the baby boy in his arms, rocking gently. The baby sighed contently, and held onto his older brother's arms. It was all very touching, and Artemis felt a comfortable warmth in his heart. _I'm your brother, little one, _he thought. _I will look after you, whatever happens. _

Beckett suddenly clapped, and giggled, as if saying, 'Me too! Me next!' Everybody laughed, and the criminal mastermind handed Myles back to his mother, who then handed over Beckett.

Beckett was more energetic, wriggling about in his brother's arms, tweaking his nose, making him laugh. It truly was a wonderful family reunion.

0 0 0 0 0

**Haven**

Holly approached the run-down building. _Nothing much has changed around here,_ she thought. She walked through the half-mangled entrance, and climbed the stairs, until she came up to a familiar door, but with a slight change.

It seemed Mulch was doing well, because the door was new, with a new label in gold letters: _Diggums and Day: Private Investigators. _Holly smiled, and pushed open the door.

What she saw was a far cry from when she'd been an investigator there. All the furniture was new and modern, with a lounge-style area on one side of the room with black leather sofas, a high-quality holoTV in one corner alongside a large fridge, and two large desks occupying the other half. Mulch was currently asleep at one of the desks, his boots up on the polished surface, snoring away. Holly slowly walked up to Mulch, and when she was right next to him, shouted in his ear, 'YOU HAVE A VISITOR!'

Needless to say, Mulch was completely and utterly taken back, and ended up falling onto his hairy rump. He was just about to begin to apologize for being so impolite, when he saw who it was.

'Holly! Am I glad to see you,' said the dwarf, hugging Holly tight. Holly laughed.

'What's this? A clean, groomed Mulch? You were about to apologize too! What gotten into you?' she asked jokingly.

Mulch let go of Holly and smiled sheepishly. 'Well, business has been a lot better than it was, as you can see,' said the dwarf, spreading his arms. 'There's also been a rather pretty elf coming here regularly, a very _rich _pretty elf might I add, so I thought I'd look my best.'

Holly was suddenly suspicious. 'A dwarf with and elf? There must be something wrong with you, Mulch,' she said. 'Wait, let me see your eyes.' Mulch widened his eyes, and Holly's suspicions were confirmed. The edges of Mulch's irises were slightly jagged, and his eyes were bloodshot, which meant only one thing: he had been mesmerized.

'Tell me more about this pretty elf, Mulch.' said Holly, all humour lost from her voice.

0 0 0 0 0

**Later, Fowl Manor**

Artemis walked through the manor with Butler by his side, catching up on all the other changes that had occurred. One change he noticed was that one of the guest rooms had been changed to be a permanent bedroom.

'Butler, who is occupying the guest bedroom?' asked Artemis, although he had a slight idea as to who it was.

'Why don't you find out? There's still one more person you need to meet anyway,' said Butler, smiling as if he knew something Artemis didn't. Which he did, of course.

Artemis knocked gently on the door. '_Entrez!_' came the graceful reply. He stepped into the room, and when he saw who was inside, he gasped; much to his dismay, it was also then that his hormones chose to kick in.

Butler hadn't lied when he'd said that Minerva had become quite a beauty. Because Artemis had been three years senior when he'd left, Minerva had caught up with him in terms of age and was now 15, the same age as Artemis. A lot can happen in three years.

Not only was she roughly the same height as Artemis now, but she had also... 'developed' quite nicely. She was still elegantly slim, but had begun to grow into a fuller figure, and she had her blonde hair straight and flowing, instead of curls like Artemis had last seen her with. From the way she held herself, it seemed that she had fought off many to stay single (at least, he hoped she was - not that he would ever voice that hope aloud, of course).

She turned and gasped when she saw who it was, then gave Artemis the most beautiful smile he had ever seen, making him blush heavily. She rushed over, and before Artemis could react, proceeded to cover his face in little kisses.

'I'll leave you two alone,' muttered Butler, smiling, as he closed the door behind him. _Young love,_ thought Butler to himself. _I never thought Artemis would experience it, but I'm glad I was wrong...  
_

Back in the room, the young prodigy was unsure how to react. This was his first time with a girl in such close proximity, and was frozen solid, much to his embarrassment. She had stopped kissing him, and was grinning cheekily. They were still very close together, so close that he was breathing in her pleasantly sweet scent.

'Artemis, I have missed you so much! Ever since you disappeared, I have been ever so _bored_, so I visited your bodyguard, Butler, as often as I could, asking him about you,' she said, giggling as Artemis tried to say something, and ended up stuttering. _Me, Artemis Fowl the Second, stuttering? _thought Artemis. _Blasted puberty…_

'I'm sorry if I surprised with my greeting,' Minerva continued, suddenly pulling away and grabbing his hand. 'I have a lot of things to show you!'

'Wuh, well, I… I, uh… I'm flattered, n,naturally,' managed Artemis, cursing himself for being so inept as he was dragged towards her computer. _Wuh? That's not even a word! _Artemis thought, silently berating himself.

She made a _tut-tut _sound as she suddenly turned to him and looked him up and down. 'Artemis, you are filthy. I think Butler has left you some clean clothes on your bed. Get changed, _vite!_ We're having dinner in half an hour, so you might as well have a shower too! I will show you the results of my recent exploits afterwards.'

Artemis tried to smile, but he couldn't quite manage it, as Minerva pushed him towards his room, and closed the door to his room behind her. When he was sure she was out of earshot, he collapsed on his bed, and sighed happily.

'Perhaps puberty isn't such a bad thing after all,' muttered Artemis, then sighed once again.

While Artemis was appreciating the nature of puberty, down in Haven, Holly received the shock of her life.

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Good, eh? No? Well, tell me in your review! ...please?


	3. Drastic Changes

Thanks to the extraordinarily massive amount of reviews I got (2), I've decided to update.

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Chapter 2. – **Drastic Changes**

**Diggums and Day P.I. Office, Haven**

'Frond! Why has _she _been here?' exclaimed Holly, as soon as the name escaped Mulch's lips.

'Well, uh, she said she had a couple of problems needing solving, so Doodah and I thought we'd help,' said Mulch, ambling over to the fridge and taking out some carrot juice. 'Didn't turn out to be much, just some old elf who was stalking her. No probs. We just, uh, had a quiet word, and he went away. He looked a lot like someone, though, can't remember who...' He took a sip of his carrot juice. 'I see now why Foaly likes this stuff so much. I...'

But before he could finish, Holly had darted out of the room. _Huh, _he thought, as he finished his juice and chucked it into the recycler. _Holly hasn't changed. Well, she can't have, 'cause she went through a time tunnel, so to her she disappeared yesterday, but she was _actually_ gone three years. Hey, I finally got my head round it. Maybe that centaur ain't so confusing after all..._

Holly burst into the open air, and began running. _There's something definitely wrong here_, thought Holly, as she weaved through the morning traffic. _I need to get back to HQ._

The HQ she was referring to was no longer the LEP, but Section 8, a covert section of the Council, created to tackle the eighth family of the People: demons. The demons had recently returned to Earth thanks to a certain criminal mastermind, two warlock demons, an egomaniac (also a demon), and herself. Instead of showing their appreciation by cooperating, they were now causing havoc all over Haven. Section 8 had never been pushed this hard since its creation, and was very close to going public, just to make things easier. Holly had only been back for a few days, but she had already realized the difference: everyone was rushing about, even Foaly, who was usually the only one who got nothing done on time. Then again, he also had another distraction: a year before Holly rematerialized, Foaly had finally worked up the courage to ask Caballine, a female centaur he'd met at an art museum three years earlier, for her hand in marriage. And, much to his delight, she had said 'yes' on the spot.

Holly finally came to an abandoned multi-storey car park, and quickly ran up the stairs until she reached the seventh floor. After making sure she hadn't been followed, she stepped onto one of the parking spaces, then pressed a button on her wrist computer. The parking space immediately began to rise, and soon Holly was about to hit her head on the rock above and get squashed into a flat piece of elf. A very undignified way to go for someone who'd gone through so much.

Of course, the rock was not in fact the solid, chunky stuff that breaks windows if you throw them, but holographic, and Holly passed straight through it without batting an eyelid. She arrived at a small carport, and hurried through a long corridor with so many cameras and sensors it would have been enough to guard ten Fort Knox's. She finally came up to a large metal door, and unceremonially plunged her hand into it. Her fingerprints, her DNA, and an assortment of other unique hand characteristics were all read and verified simultaneously. A mere second later, the doors whooshed back, revealing Section 8 Headquarters.

As usual, everyone was rushing about, clutching files, weapons, gadgets, and all sorts of other objects. Foaly was typing madly at his keyboard, while also trying to make multiple phone calls. All in all, everything was in chaos.

When Section 8 had brought the demons underground via shuttle, they hadn't anticipated the fact that they would suddenly attack the pilot and the crew, making it veer off-course and smash into the rock face. Many elves and sprites who had been assigned to guard the demons had been injured, some even killed, and hundreds of ingots worth of damage had been caused. The casualties had also included demons, but the majority had survived, and was causing destruction all over Haven. Nothing had been seen like this since the goblins had nearly taken over Haven, and everyone would have been shedding skins and licking eyeballs in the city if it hadn't been for, once again, a certain criminal mastermind, a paranoid centaur, a flatulent dwarf, and herself. Just to name a few.

She rushed over to Foaly, who was still in the middle of a conversation with two other people, while also typing away on his keyboard. Before she could say a word, someone grabbed her shoulders and spun her around.

'Holly!' said a very agitated-looking Wing Commander Vinyáya. 'Where have you been? Every single fairy is needed right now, do you understand?' A stunned Holly quickly nodded her head. She knew it was better to keep quiet.

'Good. Now, get to your desk, I'm sure there's a pile of things to do on there.' And without further ado, she rushed off in the opposite direction, shouting all sorts of instructions to different fairies.

Holly stood, stunned, for a few seconds, then immediately got to work. She rushed over to her desk, and as Vinyáya had said, her desk was overflowing with documents, assignments, and random memos from her co-workers. _Great, _she thought, shifting through the enormous pile. _Where do I start?_

0 0 0 0 0

**That evening, Fowl Manor**

Artemis stepped into the corridor refreshed and dressed, to find Minerva waiting for him by the door, wearing a beautiful purple silk dress, which hugged her form and left her shoulders bare. Artemis felt his hormones raging again. _Stay,_ thought Artemis, taking a deep breath.

'Come on Artemis, we're late for dinner!' she said, tugging his arm and pulling him down the corridor. 'Your parents decided to make the celebration formal, hence your dinner jacket and my dress.'

When they arrived at the oak stairway, she stopped, checked her dress, then linked arms with Artemis, who hadn't lost the blush from his cheeks.

'We look quite the couple, I think,' she whispered, then started to walk down the stairs. Artemis finally composed himself, cleared his throat, and whispered back,

'You look absolutely stunning, Minerva. So much so, I'm sure you've stolen the show.' She giggled, and kissed him on the cheek.

The dining table was set with the most extravagant looking food, and even Artemis was slightly impressed. Caviar, _foie gras _on french bread, smoked salmon... And these were just some of the starters.

The Fowls and the Butlers were already seated, and when the masterminds entered they were treated with a cat-call from Juliet, and smiles from everyone else. The twins, seated in high chairs on either side of their mother, gurgled happily. Artemis Fowl Senior sat at the head of the table, and when everyone was seated, stood to make a toast.

'I would like to propose a toast, to celebrate the return of our dear son Arty, and also the first birthdays of Myles and Beckett,' he said, raising his crystal flute of champagne. Everyone followed suit, and took a drink. The meal itself was as delicious as it looked, and a great deal of laughter came from the table all the way through the meal, with intelligent banter and witty jokes being shared.

After the meal was over, Artemis beckoned Butler over, and they quietly went into the garden. The full moon lit the trees and the shrubs, and Artemis walked far enough from the French windows so that no one could see what they were doing.

'This is to test whether my magic will be permanent,' he whispered, mostly to himself. 'I was fortunate enough to find an acorn during the full moon yesterday that met the specifications laid out in the Book...' Butler stood nervously behind is charge. It was one of the few times the huge manservant had ever been nervous.

'Remember what I said, Artemis. No more crazy schemes. I'm too old to protect you now,' he whispered, as he watched the teenager take out a smooth acorn from his jacket pocket, then make a small hole in the ground.

'Don't worry yourself, old friend,' answered Artemis. 'It's only a test...' And with that remark, he buried the acorn deep into the soil.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Butler sighed, and was about to put his hand on Artemis' shoulder, when his charge suddenly spasmed as if he had been hit by an electric shock, and flew back into the bodyguard, taking him completely by surprise. They both rolled onto the ground, where Butler fell onto a bed of roses, cutting himself in at least twenty different places and ruining his rather expensive dinner jacket. Needless to say, the manservant was irritated.

'Artemis, next time you suddenly spasm and fly back, try and give me a warning first,' he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he realized his charge was not listening. 'Artemis?'

The mastermind in question was staring at his hands, which were covered by blue sparks.

'Incredible,' muttered Artemis. 'Butler, are you bleeding?'

'Well, a little here and there,' answered Butler, pointing towards the back of the neck. Artemis settled himself behind his bodyguard, placed a fingertip on one of the cuts, and whispered, 'Heal.'

A solitary spark immediately traveled down his finger and closed the cut, wiping it away like a stain. Artemis proceeded to clean off the rest of the cuts, then stood and looked towards the manor.

'Perhaps it's time to perform that miracle we were talking about, Butler,' he said, watching the silhouettes on the other side of the windows. 'I've caused too much pain for my parents already. And, if you really have told them about the People, it may be best that they forget.' The manservant nodded, and led Artemis back into the house.

'But before you do, Artemis,' warned Butler, stopping before going back into the manor. 'Remember my warning. Not in front of the twins. We don't know how they'll be affected, if at all.'

'I know, old friend,' sighed Artemis. 'I'll try and gather my parents after the twins have gone to bed. By the way, how did Juliet take my disappearance?'

'She is very good at hiding her emotions,' answered Butler, opening the backdoor. 'But I've known her all her life, and I know she was devastated.'

Artemis sighed. _Why do I always have to cause so much pain to all those around me? _he thought. _I'd better help Juliet as well._

0 0 0 0 0

**An abandoned Koboi Enterprises factory, Haven**

If anyone happened to pass the abandoned Koboi Enterprises factory, they probably would have thought nothing was amiss. How wrong they were.

The demons who had survived the shuttle crash and had escaped were currently standing by a raised platform inside, waiting for someone to appear. They were not standing still, however. They were all restless, clamouring, scraping talons on horns and walls, sharpening weapons. But none of them dared to roar, in fear of being heard.

An elf stepped out of the shadows, wearing a large overcoat. The rustles of an ancient LEP uniform could be heard, and as he stepped into whatever little light there was, deep wrinkles were seen, etched into his ancient face, grim and full of hate.

'Quiet!' growled the elf, not loudly, but something in his voice made the demons shut up instantly.

'Good. You understand simple instructions.' chuckled the elf, then immediately became serious again.

'I suppose only a few of you know why you are here. I will explain. A certain elf, who is a great supporter of your kind, has decided that the time Haven is drawing to an end, and that the People should live on the surface once more,' This drew a few growls of agreement.

'But for his plan to work, he needs your help,' he continued, spreading his arms. 'You may have been gone for many a century, but you are still our brothers. We must work hand in hand, for our freedom to be assured. All he asks is for your co-operation, and in return you are free to roam the Earth, killing who you may please, and live the life you dreamed of.' More and more demons began growling, and soon every demon was agitated once again. The few imps who were left were bouncing up and down, trying to see the elf who was offering them the path to their one greatest wish: to kill the humans and live on the surface.

'How do we know we can trust you?' asked one demon, who was just slightly brighter than the others. The elf laughed.

'You should trust no one!' he exclaimed. 'But let me tell you this: instead of hiding you, we could have handed you over to a group of elves who are very eager to lock you up and throw away the key. A group of elves I happen to know quite a bit about. And so does the elf who is offering you freedom. Are we agreed?'

The demons roared for the first time since Hybras had come through the time tunnel, the imps screaming and bashing fists on their chests.

The disgraced LEP captain Turnball Root smiled. He was also glad that he had soundproofed the entire area, otherwise the LEP would have picked them up hours ago.

_The LEP without my brother, _he thought, suddenly saddened with the memory of his deceased sibling. _Nothing will be the same without him._

_

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_How's that? Turnball Root (who's only been featured in LEPrecon, which I think is a shame) has been introduced into the plot, but as you can tell from the way he talks, he's not at the head of things. The identity of the elf behind all this will be my little secret...

_If I told you that the 'review' button would guarantee you a great life, and the story was great too, would you press it, or would you press it? I think the answer is simple._


	4. Some Casual Conversation

More reviews! Woo-hoo! But it's not enough... It's never enough... (grin)

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Chapter 3. – **Some Casual Conversation**

**Fowl Manor**

As Artemis was about to ask his mother to meet him in his study, his phone rang, and he hurriedly excused himself and went to the toilet. This was not his mobile phone, but the fairy communicator Holly had given him, which was disguised as a rather prominent ring. He twisted the ring so that the omni-sensor, which looked like a large red jewel, was sitting in the palm of his hand. He then closed his middle fingers, and began to talk, as if he was using a pretend phone.

'Holly?' he said into his pinky. For a while there was no answer, then a desperate-sounding Holly answered.

'Artemis, it's good to hear from you. Haven is in chaos right now.'

'Hmm,' replied Artemis, thinking for roughly two seconds. 'Are the demons refusing to co-operate?'

'Very clever,' the elf answered. 'Yes, you're right. They hi-jacked the shuttle they were in, and crashed it against the rock face. You have no idea how much the media is lapping this up. Thankfully, they haven't discovered Section 8 yet, so the LEP is taking all the blame. I would have said that was a good thing if Sool was still in charge, but now that Trouble's taken over, I feel kinda bad.' After Sool had been forced to leave, then-Major Trouble Kelp had taken over, and was now Commander.

'Well, I hope you resolve the problem,' said Artemis. 'I have, eh… a few problems of my own.' His parents and Juliet came to mind. And also Minerva, although not for the same reason.

'Uh-huh,' answered a skeptical Holly. 'Well, I'm afraid you're going to have to halt whatever projects you have in mind. I think there's something going on behind the shadows. Mulch has been mesmerized lately by Lily Frond, and I can't think why. Artemis?'

'I'll call you back,' muttered Artemis, then cut the communication. Someone was knocking on the door.

'Arty?' called his mother. 'Arty, are you alright?'

'Yes, mother,' answered her son casually. 'Nothing serious. By the way, may I see you, father and Juliet in my study later? Preferably in about ten minutes.'

'Alright, dear. I'll just go tell your father and Juliet now,' she said, then her footsteps were heard walking away from the door.

Artemis sighed. He was still figuring out how to wipe away their pain and memories of fairies. When he was ready, he flushed the toilet for good measure, then walked out of the bathroom, and headed for his study.

0 0 0 0 0

**LEP HQ, Haven**

Captain Lily Frond, the second female to ever reach Recon, was not happy. She rarely was, ever since Ark Sool had been kicked out of the LEP. It was because of him that she had reached Recon, and had been his only supporter, including his ideas about what to do with the demons, which had not pleased the council.

She was also unhappy because of the fact that she was the _second_ at something. She had always been first at everything, just because of her ancestry. A truly spoilt brat, she hated Holly Short for coming before her.

'How did that ugly, no-good elf get to Recon before me?' muttered Frond, as she sauntered through the corridors. But now she had a mission that no one in the LEP knew about. She also knew that because Holly always ended up being involved one way or another, she would get her revenge.

But first, she had to arrange a little something with the new technical supervisor. Ever since Foaly had retired with his new wife, the gadgets that were coming out of the workshops just didn't have the 'wow' factor Foaly's inventions had. Although Frond hated to admit it, the new techie just wasn't world-saving material. Luckily, this was exactly what she needed.

When she entered the room, she found the new techie bent over what appeared to be a hologram of a dancing elf (I won't go into any details) on his desk. He had been Foaly's head technician, and hadn't been what you'd call 'overjoyed' when he was told he had received the job. In fact, he felt quite the opposite. But the pay was better, and he got to mess around with things without a whinnying centaur muttering in ear, so he accepted the job. It was obvious from the quality of his work and his general expressions that he regretted it.

'Hey, techie!' said Frond, getting the elf's attention. He was just about to reply, when he saw who it was.

'Oh, uh, L... I mean Captain Frond! What can I do for you?' he stuttered, immediately turning off the hologram. Frond knew he had a soft spot for her, and she decided to exploit it.

'Whatcha doing there, techie?' she said, walking towards him. She didn't have to be all lovey-dovey with this elf. She had secretly read his psych report, which revealed that he liked being 'dominated' (that might have sounded wrong).

'Well, I... uh...' stuttered the poor elf. He had gone bright red, and was unable to make a single proper sentence. Lily sneered. _This is going to be easy_, she thought.

'Look, I think there's something wrong with my computer,' she said, grabbing his head and looking deep into his eyes. She then added the _mesmer _to her voice. 'So, instead of fixing it, I want you to let me use the main computer, where I can access anything I wanted. Understand?'

Although he was a magical being, the techie had decided that magic was for warlocks, and had consequently lost his magic, rendering him useless against Frond's _mesmer_. Even if he had been 'running hot', Frond was unusually powerful, and also much smarter than the bimbo everyone thought she was. Sool had realized this and had seemed to respect her for it, which had been why Frond had supported him.

He was immediately under her spell, so to speak. 'Sure, nothing wrong with that. You can use my username and password, so that there are no restrictions,' he said, suddenly losing his stutter. _What a wonderful voice, _he thought. _Yes... wonderful..._

'Good,' said Frond, suddenly having an idea. 'Now, why don't you go to my desk and complete any documents that need to be done?' To the techie, this was a wonderful idea.

'Why, yes, of course!' he said, and hurried out of the room, a lazy smile on his face. He would proceed to finish every single document, without eating or sleeping, for the next three days, to the best of his abilities.

Once the techie was gone, she locked the doors, and did a little computer wizardry to make sure they couldn't be opened, unless from the inside. Her technical prowess was another of her underestimated skills. She wasn't as skilled as Foaly or Artemis, but she was getting close.

She lithely stretched her arms, then found the 'City Emergency Systems' folder. She hummed the tune of a pop song as she worked, a sneer on her face.

0 0 0 0 0

**Artemis' Study, Fowl Manor**

Artemis sat on his chair, waiting anxiously for the arrival of his parents and Juliet. Now that he had confirmed that his magic was permanent, he now had to find out if he could control it, and use it in the way he wanted.

_All you have to do is add magic to your voice_, he thought to himself. _Just make eye contact with them, then let the magic flow_. Needless to say, he didn't like it. Perhaps he had acted too rashly.

But before he could change his mind, the door opened, and his parents entered, his father still holding his crystal flute of champagne, and sat down on the seats Artemis had placed. They were followed by Juliet, who closed the door behind her, then stood behind the two parents.

Artemis took a deep breath, then began, aware that three pairs of eyes were on him, but without hostility, just curiosity.

'Mother, father, Juliet, I wanted to talk to you about my disappearance,' he began, looking up and meeting the eyes of his parents and Juliet. He could see the pain in all their eyes, and a tear trickled down the cheek of Angeline. 'I know it was a painful time for all of you, but I felt that it was necessary to smooth it over, then move on,' he continued. _Here goes nothing_, he thought to himself, and tried to add a layer of magic to his voice.

Surprisingly, it was relatively easy. 'I take it that Butler told you about a fairy race, who lived underground?' he asked them. They nodded, and his mother said, 'We thought he'd gone mad with guilt. But now that you've returned, we've begun to rethink our beliefs. It's a difficult time for us all.'

Artemis sighed, remembering Foaly's words before he had returned: _Everything you have learnt is confidential. Not even your parents, Artemis. You'll have to think of something besides the truth to tell them. _

'You see, your initial reactions were correct. Butler _was _overridden with guilt, and his mind must have come up with an extremely outlandish reason to explain why I was gone, although he knew it wasn't true,' he said, staring into each parent in turn, then Juliet last. He walked up to his parents, both of them looking very confused, and took each of their hands in his own. 'I'm so sorry I caused you so much pain, mother, father,' he said clearly, still looking into their eyes, then, controlling his magic (too much would probably cause permanent damage), he slowly pumped positive energy into their minds, wiping away their pain, as if it were just another physical wound. Artemis saw the eyes of his parents soften, the pain wiped away, and smiled. After he was sure they were alright, he moved on to Juliet, and took both her hands.

'Butler told me about the pain you went through. I'm so sorry,' he said, then felt the magic flowing through his fingers, doing its work. Juliet smiled softly, and although he could tell his positive energy was seeping into her, she seemed to be aware that he was up to something. He raised an eyebrow, to which Juliet winked, startling him.

When he finished, he returned to his chair. His parents and Juliet were still looking at him, but they seemed relaxed.

'I'm afraid the reason I was away for so long is... difficult for me to explain, and I can't explain it now. But I promise, when the time is right, I'll tell you everything,' said the mastermind, images of all his adventures flooding through his mind. His parents just nodded, and his father said, 'Don't worry, son. I'm sure you have good reasons for not telling us, and we don't mind.' His mother nodded, clasping her husband's hand. Juliet nodded too, but there was a look in her eye that said otherwise. Artemis sighed.

'Thank you for being so understanding. Now, I need to check something in private, so may I be left alone please?' he asked. His father stood up, smiling at his son, then helped his wife up with his free hand and left the room. But Juliet stayed where she was.

'Artemis,' she said, walking over. She paused, then said, 'Since when did you have magic?' Artemis sighed, and swivelled round in his chair to see Juliet next to him, smiling.

'I see you noticed,' he said, as he beckoned for her to sit. She sat, crossing her legs, then pointed to her eyes.

'Remember your contacts? I found the spares in your room when I was cleaning it, and there was a disk beside it. When I ran the video you made for my brother, all my memories came back.' She took out the contacts, and threw them in the bin. 'So, Artemis,' she said, leaning forward so her face was dangerously close to his. 'Explain yourself. Including why your eyes don't match anymore.'

Artemis sighed again. _Might as well_, he thought. He also felt the hormones raging. She was so close, she could feel her breath on his face.

'A while after you lost your memory, Butler and I were contacted by Holly and the LEP, and we ended up having quite a brush-up with Opal Koboi and her goons. I'm afraid the LEP were not without casualties during the incident. Commander Root died when an explosive was strapped to his chest thanks to the pixie, which subsequently exploded and...' he explained, memories of the old commander coming back, bringing a tear to his eye. Juliet listened silently.

'We eventually defeated Opal, and she's now at Howler's Peak, I presume. Holly quit the LEP, then teamed up with Mulch and became private investigators, although she's now working in a covert section of the Council called Section 8, details of which I am not at liberty to discuss, I'm afraid,' he continued. Juliet gasped, then giggled.

'Holly and Mulch as private investigators...' she mused. 'I don't believe it. Ah well, at least she's moving up in the world... Anyway, please continue, Artemis.' He nodded.

'After the incident, I got bored, and since it was the summer holidays, I thought I'd go through the Book, which was where I found about demons,' he said, becoming slightly uncomfortable. 'Uh, Juliet, before I continue, can you move back slightly? I'm a little uncomfortable here.' She looked surprised for an instant, then grinned.

'Sure. I bet you were thinking about your_ girlfriend_, right?' she said, then leaned back again on her chair. She beckoned for him to continue. Artemis cleared his throat. He then remembered his promise to call Holly back.

'Juliet, can I tell you this later? I need to call Holly,' he said. Juliet nodded, winked at Artemis again, then walked out of the room.

He then activated his phone, and rang Holly. The Holly who answered still sounded absolutely exhausted.

'Hello, Artemis? You took your time,' said Holly. Artemis could hear shouting and people rushing about in the background.

'I'm sorry, I had a small problem to smooth over,' answered Artemis. He heard Holly _humph_, which made him smile. 'Section 8 sounds busy.'

'It's chaos down here, Artemis,' said, or rather shouted Holly. 'We might need to go public if we're going to continue tackle the demons. There's something else too.' She paused, and Artemis heard her shouting at someone while covering the mouthpiece.

'Holly? Are you okay? I can call you later if you like,' said Artemis. 'Holly?'

'Yeah, um... yeah, call me back later,' shouted Holly, then cut the line. Artemis was left staring at his phone, bemused.

_I had better think of a few ideas for Holly before I call her_, thought Artemis. He went through the collection of music stored in his vast intellect, and chose Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2; the one he had played himself, of course, with the Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra, at the tender age of seven. He then set up a voice recorder on the floor, sat next to it, and closed his eyes.

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It's not the best of endings, I have to admit, especially now that you have to wait for another couple of weeks for the next update, but hey... that's life.

_(swinging a golden medallion) yOu aRE uNdEr mY SpELl... yOu WaNT tO rEviEW... rEviEW... rEviEW..._

_Did it work?_


	5. The Third Conspirator

The summer is dragging on, and the final of Euro 2008 is on TV. At least I'm just editing, not writing new stuff...

R&R!!

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Chapter 4. – **The Third Conspirator**

**The _Dolphin Queen_, Express Chute from Atlantis to Haven**

Ghatta Gorg, the senator of Atlantis, sat on his plush seat on the luxury cruiser, the _Dolphin Queen_. The cruiser was one of the largest cruisers under the world, a flying Titanic, of sorts. It had 200 rooms, all of them furnished extravagantly, and all of them worthy for a monarch. It was expensive enough for a monarch, too. Gorg had rented the largest suite, and was currently drinking a glass of rare Atlantian champagne while watching the news on the holoVision.

'Humph,' he muttered, taking a sip of his absurdly expensive drink. All the channels were overflowing with the latest on the demon agenda. In fact, it was because of this agenda that he was on the _Dolphin Queen _on his way to Haven. The Council of Haven had called on Atlantis to send help to tackle the demons, and so had sent their senator to discuss the problem. He knew that the LEP were doing the best they could, and their Commander, the respected Trouble Kelp, was fulfilling his new task extremely well. But it wasn't enough. Gorg wasn't aware of the existence of Section 8, but he would have been told if he had reached Haven. If.

Suddenly, the cruiser jerked violently, making Gorg drop his glass.

'D'arvit!' the senator swore, and he bent down to pick up the glass, when the cruiser jerked again, and stopped. Gorg fell out of his chair, falling on his glass.

'Oh, for Frond's sake!' he shouted, a little drunk, and picked himself up, smoothing off his suit. 'Mind the suit, mind the suit... Hey, why've we stopped?' He heard sounds of crashing and screaming outside. He staggered over to the door, and having checked himself in the mirror, opened the door, and stuck his head out. He had to pinch himself to check he wasn't having a nightmare.

Groups of demons were causing havoc in the corridors, roughly pulling elves, sprites and pixies out of their rooms, and dragging them away. Gorg could not understand why, but he knew it was bad news, so immediately closed the door and fumbled with the lock. However, he was unable to key in a single digit of his personal 8-digit code, so tried to keep the door shut by pushing his back against it. The power of 5 fully warped, powerful demons, against the body weight of a single feeble senator. Guess who won.

The door swung open with a mighty crash, sending the senator flying into his bed. When the demons entered, they were greeted with Gorg lying on his bed, his rear end towards them, groaning. Needless to say, they were annoyed.

The demon who entered first was Gristle, formerly Hadley Shrivelington Basset. After Abbot disappeared from the tribe, Gristle was now the most powerful demon, and therefore the pack leader. The first thing he had done after the appropriate rituals was to get rid of the ridiculous names Abbot had forced on them from _Lady Heatherington Smythe's Hedgegrow_, and had returned to calling himself his family name.

Gristle looked around the room, growled as he saw all the fancy decorations and technology, then his eyes came to rest on Gorg, or rather said senator's rump. He roared, rushed over, and roughly grabbed Gorg's neck and shook him from side to side.

'How dare you insult me, feeble elf!' screamed Gristle into Gorg's face. The senator was too terrified to answer, and just stared at the demon. Gristle roared again, getting spittle all over the senator's face, then dragged him off the bed and out of the room, into the corridor. Gorg finally found his voice.

'H,h,how d,d,dare you t,t,treat me like t,t,this!' he stuttered, as the demon dragged him down the corridor. 'I am t,t,the senator of Atlantis! Unhand m,m,me!' Gristle suddenly stopped, then looked down at the poor elf. The demon looked as if he was thinking, then set off again.

He carried the elf through the long corridors, each one of them with demons looting the room. They eventually reached the lift, and the demon walked in, dropped Gorg onto the cold marble, and pressed a button. Gorg felt the lift rise, and rubbed his back where the demon had dropped him, then tried to stand up. Gristle immediately stamped his foot down on the senator's chest, knocking his head on the floor.

'Ow! Hey, m,mind the suit, mind the suit...' he muttered, trying to get a grip on Gristle's boot. 'Hey, w,w,where are we g,g,going?' The demon sneered, and leaned down so his face was very close to Gorg's. The action put a lot of wait on Gorg's chest, and he began finding it hard to breathe. The fact that he could smell the demon's foul breath didn't help.

'He told us to find all the po-liti-cal-ly powerful elves on this shuttle, and it seems to me you classify,' chuckled Gristle, sounding out the word 'politically'. He rose, again, facing the double doors of the lift, and took his boot off the senator's chest. _Who's 'he'?_, thought Gorg as the demon lifted him up again, and walked out of the lift.

They walked onto the private deck, where only the captain and a few VIPs were allowed. There a group of elderly demons sat on the deckchairs, while an elderly elf occupied the captain's seat. He was dressed in an old LEP uniform with a large overcoat over it. Even in his slightly drunken state, Gorg clearly felt an aura of power emanating from this particular elf. He knew he had seen this elf before, butjust couldn't place it.

When the elf saw Gristle with the senator in his grasp, he smiled coldly, and walked over. He motioned for Gristle to drop his captive, which the demon did reluctantly.

'You can return to looting the rest of the cruiser, Gristle,' said the elf, and the demon complied grudgingly, returning to the lift. The elf then turned his attention on Gorg.

'Senator Gorg! A pleasure to meet you,' he exclaimed, helping Gorg onto his feet. The elf clicked his fingers, and a nervous-looking waiter brought over a glass of champagne. The elf took it, and offered it to Gorg, who grabbed it thankfully, and downed it in one go. 'I apologize for the way you were treated. I should have known you were onboard. If you will kindly come with me?'

The elf led Gorg across the deck, and the senator saw many large magnetic clamps on the side of the cruiser, with a shuttle on each end. _So this is how they stopped the cruiser_, thought Gorg. _Now, where have I seen this elf? _When he couldn't remember, he decided to ask the elf himself.

'Uh, excuse me,' he said, getting the elf's attention. 'I think I've seen you somewhere before. Who are you?' The elf chuckled, and patted Gorg on the shoulder.

'You'll find out in due course senator, don't worry,' assured the old elf, smiling again. His features betrayed nothing of his true emotions, as he knew that frightening this feeble creature away would only result in complications.

After walking through a long corridor, they arrived at the conference room, and the elf pushed the door open. Inside, there was a long mahogany table, with red leather on the seats, and a floor-to-ceiling window looking out onto the sea. However, only a handful of seats were taken. The captain of the _Dolphin Queen _sat, or was rather tied to one of the chairs with a gag in his mouth. Two demons stood either side of him, making sure he didn't try to escape. A dwarf sat on the other side of the table, with a wide-brimmed sombrero placed on the table in front of him. Seated next to him was a sprite, drinking a glass of whiskey, who appeared to have lost his wings. And finally, a gnome dressed in a white suit with a light blue shirt stood looking out of the window at the sea, leaning on a cane. He was taller and thinner than other gnomes, and did not wear gold like his clan were fond of, except for a ring he wore on his middle finger. The scene was all very melodramatic.

When the old elf entered with the senator, the gnome turned around, and smiled.

'Ah, Turnball. I see a politician _was _onboard. Just as I suspected,' he said, walking over. That was when Gorg finally remembered. He squealed, then quickly stepped away from the old elf.

'Y,y,you're Turnball Root!' he exclaimed, stuttering again. 'Y,y,you tried to fl,flood Haven!' Turnball took a little bow, and smiled at Gorg. The smile was very similar to Artemis' vampiric one.

'Yes, indeed he did,' said the gnome, walking up behind the senator. 'And if it hadn't been for his idiot of a brother, Julius, he would have succeeded!' Gorg spun around, and looked at the gnome. He instantly recognized him, for it had only been a couple of years since he had last seen him.

'Oh, gods...' muttered Gorg, the very fact that this gnome was here overwhelming him. 'You're... you're...'

'Indeed, Senator Gorg,' said the gnome, looking at Gorg calmly. 'I would've been disappointed if you had already forgotten me. After all, it was only three years ago that we last met.'

0 0 0 0 0

**LEP Headquarters, Haven**

Commander Trouble Kelp sat at his desk, taking a two-minute break from all the chaos that had become his responsibility. Of course, he had been told about Section 8, and also knew that Holly was back and worked there, but that didn't help when it came to answering the increasing amount of questions thrown his way. Section 8 had the enormous advantage of being unknown to the People, and so could avoid the public eye, and do their job freely. Without getting caught, of course. However, Trouble knew that even this was becoming difficult, and was expecting them to go public at any moment.

The commander groaned, rubbed his head, and was about to get back to work, when his communicator rang.

'Oh, D'Arvit!' he groaned again, and picked up the communicator. It was Holly. That cheered him up somewhat. He answered the call.

'Hello, Trouble?' asked Holly, shouting over the noise in the background.

'Hi, Holly,' he answered. 'What can I do for you? By the way, I've only got a couple of minutes, so talk fast.' Holly chuckled over the phone.

'I bet. All I need you to do is check what Frond is doing right now. Got that?' she shouted. 'I think she's up to something.'

'Frond? Well, she's probably the one with the least to do around here...' muttered Trouble, rising from his seat. He was actually glad for the break, but didn't tell Holly that. He wanted her to think he was busy. 'I'll be back in a sec, can you wait?'

'Sure,' answered Holly. 'I'm not going anywhere soon with this Mount Everest of paperwork in front of me.' Trouble grinned, and walked out of his office. As he walked down the corridor, he saw a reflection of himself. There were three bags under each of his eyes, more wrinkles than usual making him look older than he was, and he had a slight slouch. _What a life_, he thought, scratching his head. _And the People think I have it easy._

When he arrived at Frond's desk, to his surprise, he saw the technical supervisor, Roob, asleep on it, with all the paperwork done.

'What the...' muttered Trouble, as he walked up to the techie. 'Hey, Roob! Wake up!' But the techie remained fast asleep, breathing slowly and rhythmically. _That's weird_, thought Trouble. _So where's Frond? _

He walked up to the Ops Booth, and when he opened the doors, he found the room empty. Nothing seemed out of place. In fact, the only strange thing was the fact that the techie was asleep at Frond's desk, having seemingly to have done all her work. And also the fact that Frond was missing. _She might be on the toilet, for all I know_, thought Trouble, walking back to his office. He picked up the communicator, and heard Holly screaming at someone.

'Someone pinch you somewhere private, Holly?' asked Trouble, grinning.

'Ah, Trouble, I... uh... no, someone was just bugging me, that's all,' answered a very flustered-sounding Holly. 'Well?'

'I can't find Frond, but the techie, Roob, is asleep at her desk. And it looks likes he's done all her paperwork, too,' answered the commander. 'Now will you tell me what this is about?'

'Later, Trouble, later,' said Holly. 'Now's not a good time. I might call you later though, so keep your com on.'

'Ok, but...' he managed, before Holly switched off her communicator. _Thanks would have done quite nicely_, thought Trouble as he put the communicator down on his desk. He groaned for the third time, then got back to work.

While Trouble had been talking and looking for her, Frond had indeed been on the toilet, but instead of doing what you usually do on toilets, she had been listening to the conversation, thanks to the listening bug she had planted in Trouble's communicator. Her rage grew as she heard him talking to Holly (she had always imagined Trouble pushing all other females away to save himself for her), and nearly exploded when Trouble mentioned the techie asleep at her desk.

'That stupid, good-for-nothing techie...' she muttered quietly. When the conversation ended, she turned off her listening device, and sneered.

'Call back? I sincerely hope you do, Holly Short,' she said, then turned on her communicator to contact the gnome at the very heart of the matter.

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How's that? You know how to tell me, of course you do. Just PRESS THAT REVIEW BUTTON! Ahem. Excuse me.


	6. A Little Family Time

I'm back! This chapter isn't very long, I have to say, but it should do. And, following PinkAngel30's suggestions, it's mostly to do with Artemis! _Why _do I follow her advice, you ask? 'cause she reviewed every single friggin' chapter, and an author who finds a reader that devoted will listen. I mean, I'd only written five chapters...

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Chapter 5. – **A Little Family Time**

**Fowl Manor**

Artemis sat in the living room, cradling his brother in his arms. He still felt a little groggy from the dinner last night, but the feeling of amazement overwhelmed his tiredness. _I have magic_, thought Artemis, as he absent-mindedly rocked Myles back and forth. The fact had yet to sink in properly.

Myles gurgled and pinched his older brothers' nose, which brought the protégé back to reality. He smiled down at his younger sibling, and ran his fingers through the thin wisps of hair.

'You look adorable, Artemis,' said Minerva, who had been watching them while reading a book. Artemis smiled, and looked up towards her beautiful face. She closed her book, and walked over to where he was sitting.

'Artemis… I want to talk to you about the demons,' she said tentatively. 'From what I saw three years ago, it seems to me that there is more than one kind.' Artemis nodded, and motioned for her to sit down.

'Demons are a family of the fairies, but they were a mysterious bunch until recently. There are more common kinds; elves, gnomes, sprites, trolls, dwarfs, and goblins. Most of them get along, but the trolls and the goblins are a particularly nasty bunch. Here, come with me.' He stood up, and placed his baby brother into his cot, then walked out of the room. Minerva followed him up the stairs and into his study. He opened his laptop, disabled all of his extensive security measures (which Minerva subconsciously memorised), and briefly showed Minerva all his records of the fairies. He had managed to obtain photographs of some of his friends from the LEP intranet, and when Minerva saw Holly, she cried out, '_Mon dieu_! The female demon!'

'No, no,' said Artemis, calming Minerva. 'She is an elf; you mistook for a demon when I let you capture her.' He immediately regretted saying it; he realized that area was still very sensitive.

Three years previously, Artemis had laid siege of Paradizo Manor with some help from Holly, Mulch, Foaly and Doodah. They had taken out every guard and vehicle in Paradizo Manor, and recovered the demon No1. One part of the plan had been to let Holly get captured by Minerva, and she appeared to be still sore about that particular incident.

'Minerva, I'm sorry…' muttered Artemis, but she had already stood up and left. _Damn_, he cursed to himself. _Just when everything was going so well_.

To cheer himself up, he decided to hack into the LEP mainframe. Bypassing Foaly's sophisticated firewalls and anti-hacker programs always cheered Artemis up (he usually left a little message so that when Foaly logged on, he would know exactly who had hacked in). It didn't take long; he was quite used to it, and because Foaly had retired from the LEP, the security hadn't been upgraded. As Artemis randomly flicked through the numerous folders that controlled Haven, he stumbled upon the _City Emergency Systems _program.

'What on…' said Artemis, as he watched the folder slowly fade away. A second later, he got to work. He began tracing the virus to see who was trying to delete the folder, but Artemis was amazed to find that his trace was suddenly flung off course into cyberspace. _The hacker behind this is no doubt very good_, thought Artemis as he typed away furiously at the keyboard. But nothing he did was able to stop the virus, and the folder eventually disappeared.

Artemis slumped in his chair, stunned. He had never been beaten before, and yet a hacker had simply brushed off all his attempts to stop the virus. He relaxed his breathing, calmed down, and then tried to remember what exactly the City Emergency Systems were. _They were to be used for three purposes_, thought Artemis. _Flood, disease, or humans. If there were no security walls to block off the main routes into Haven, they would be open to attack. But who? _

It is a feeling we all hate: being in the dark about something, and no one hated it more than Artemis Fowl the Second. He began searching various databases for any possible candidates who would be capable of such computer wizardry, and also what they would possibly want with the gates open. Opal Koboi had already tried to reveal Haven to the humans; could someone else be following in her footsteps?

0 0 0 0 0

**LEP Ops Booth, Haven**

Captain Lily Frond, sitting in the Ops Room, watched as Artemis scanned through all the LEP databases he could get into as well as his own.

'You won't find anything, Mud Boy,' giggled Lily, as she leaned back in her chair. 'Everything that might point you in the right direction has been deleted!' She spun round in the chair, then dialed in a number into the communicator.

'Hello, Noah? It's done. Nothing can stop us now,' she said into the mouthpiece.

'Good work, my dear,' replied a grave voice. 'We are almost ready to begin.'

0 0 0 0 0

**Fowl Manor**

Artemis walked out of his room, exhausted, after around an hour and a half of fruitless searching. He had found nothing, a first for the young prodigy. He suddenly remembered the previous fallout between him and Minerva, and so hurried to her room to apologize. He also wanted to tell her about his magic.

He walked down the corridor, and arrived at her room. He knocked, quietly, and without waiting for a reply, he walked in. He found her crying by her desk, and when she saw him come in, she just turned her head and ignored him. It's strange how such a subtle act can break a boy's heart, even that of a criminal mastermind.

'I… I just wanted to… um… apologize,' stuttered Artemis, looking at the floor. 'I should've… um… realized that you were still… hurt.' He looked up, and although she was still facing away from him, he could tell that she was wondering what to do. One half of her wanted to forgive him, and begin to love him again; the other half told her to scream at him to get out. Without thinking, she suddenly grabbed a hairbrush, and threw it at him.

Artemis instinctively shielded himself with his hands, but what happened next made both of them forget everything they had been arguing about.

Artemis stood there, with his hands in front of his face, for over ten seconds, and yet he didn't feel the brush hit him. He slowly moved his hands away, as if the brush would somehow hit him the moment his face was uncovered. He saw Minerva, staring with a mixture of shock and fascination, at the hairbrush, which was floating in mid-air in front of Artemis. It was covered in blue sparks, and when Artemis reached forward to take the brush, it floated towards him, and placed itself gently in his hand. Artemis looked at the brush with awe, as if it were a new creature that no one had ever seen before. The blue sparks sank back into his hand, and the room was still.

'_Mon dieu..._' said Minerva shakily. 'How… how did you that?' For the first time in her life as a criminal mastermind, she was speechless. She watched, her mouth gaping open, as Artemis slowly levitated the hairbrush once again, and let it drift towards Minerva. It landed safely on Minerva's desk, and she stared at it for a long, long time. Artemis walked up to her until she was standing behind her chair.

'When I went through the time tunnel, I gained magic,' whispered Artemis, as Minerva slowly turned to face him. 'However, I think the magic is far stronger than that of normal fairies. I can do everything they can, and more...'

Finally, the fact had sunk in; Artemis Fowl II was a magical creature, with powers beyond anyone's imagination, even his own.

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Oooh... is the reaction I would've liked. Anyway, please review!


	7. Morals

Wow, that came pretty quick. In this chapter, the plot thickens... Thanks for the reviews, people!

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Chapter 6. – **Morals**

**The _Dolphin Queen_, in a disused tunnel towards Haven**

The gnome sat, facing senator Gorg, on the private deck of the _Dolphin Queen_, sipping a martini. The dwarf and the pixie stood beside his chair, carrying menacing laser softnoses. The poor senator still didn't know what this mastermind was going to do to him, and he was at his wit's end. The clamps had been removed, and the shuttles had entered the cruiser. The cruiser itself was still in the direction of Haven, but they had ceased to use the public tunnels, opting instead for the dark, disused ones that the cruiser barely fit through. Gorg looked at the gnome who he had known yet distrusted three years ago, who stared straight back with calm, yet powerful eyes. The gnome was about to speak, when Turnball Root entered the deck.

'Noah,' he said, referring to the gnome with the cane. 'You have a call from the Dolphin.' Ghatta was immediately confused. _Noah? Dolphin?_ thought the senator, thinking it through in his head. _They must be speaking in code. That gnome's name isn't Noah, it's…_

He was shaken out of his thoughts when Noah spoke.

'I must answer a call now, senator,' he said, looking Gorg in the eye. 'But I will return as quickly as I can. Don't try anything stupid.' He nodded at the two fairies beside him, who pointed their guns at the senator's head. Noah walked back into the conference room with Turnball behind him.

When the door to the room was closed and secure, Turnball grinned at Noah.

'What are you planning to do with that imbecile of a senator?' asked the disgraced Captain. Noah chuckled.

'After everything has gone according to plan, we can either feed him to the demons, or throw him overboard,' replied the gnome, sneering. 'The only reason he's still alive is because he's our insurance policy. Nothing like a kidnapped important politician to get the Council panicking, eh?'

'Very clever,' said Turnball, as he handed over the communicator.

Noah flipped opened the communicator, and spoke.

'Noah speaking. And you are?' he asked, to make sure the voice on the other end was his contact in the LEP.

'I am your one and only, darling,' came the reply, who then giggled. 'I have all the equipment. All I need to do now is get that imbecile of a dwarf to set the explosive. When would you like that, dear?'

'I will call you later when I have a specific date. Good work,' he said, and with a grin, he closed the connection. He turned to Turnball, who looked up.

'We are ready, my good friend,' he said. 'When shall we initiate?'

Turnball looked at Noah for a second, bewildered.

'You said you were only going to hold Haven to ransom,' said Turnball in confusion; then it suddenly dawned on him. 'You're really going to... You can't just flood the whole of Haven! Are you out of your mind?' Noah looked at the elf with the slightest irritation.

'Oh, come on, Turnball. Did you honestly think I'd come this far with the plan and not go through with it? This took me three years, Turnball, three years! In any case, my good friend, you owe me, because if it wasn't for me, you'd still be in Howler's Peak!'

Turnball grabbed the gnome's collar and pinned him to the wall, his cane clattering to the floor.

'Now listen here, _Noah_,' growled Turnball. 'You sprung me out of that hellhole to ask me what would be the best possible way to flood Haven, and you assured me that _it would NEVER come to that_! Have you no morals, you bastard?'

Noah's smile disappeared completely, being replaced with a fiery scowl.

'It is not me who has lost his mind, but _you_, you disgraced excuse of an elf!' the gnome shouted. 'You tried to flood Haven yourself! You killed countless innocent people, and you are questioning me about _morals_?'

Turnball lifted the gnome higher up.

'My plan was to only flood a section of Haven, not the whole goddamn city! I even had an architect check my plans to see whether it would affect any other section, and it was safe!' he shouted, spittle going over Noah's face. 'While _you_, you delirious little gnome, are trying to flood the whole city! You've even gone so far as to get that bimbo Lili Frond on your side!'

The gnome kicked Turnball powerfully between his legs, freeing himself. He picked up his cane which he had dropped, then wiped his face where Turnball had spat at him. He looked at the elf, squirming around on the floor in pain, and sneered.

'You've gotten all soft, silly old elf,' he muttered, walking up to the door. 'I'll have to get rid of you, otherwise the plan will be jeopardized. It's been a pleasure, old man.' With that, he left the room. Soon afterwards, two demons came in, and before the old elf could retaliate, he was shot with a tranquillizer dart. The last thing he remembered was being carried out of the room.

0 0 0 0 0

**Section 8 Headquarters, Haven**

The action had yet to die down in Section 8 HQ, as more and more demons appeared to have escaped their protective custody and gone into the city, wrecking havoc. Wing Commander Vinyáya had even gone as far as to consider letting Section 8 be known to the rest of the People, which would have been disastrous. However, the Council had decided that they would leave that option as the very last resort.

Holly was at her desk, typing like mad. She had nearly finished the mountain of files on her desk, when a new truckload had appeared fresh on her desk that morning. When her communicator rang, she nearly exploded.

'WHAT?!' she screamed into the mouthpiece, nearly bursting Artemis' eardrum.

'Uh… hello, Holly,' answered Artemis, clutching his ear. 'I just wanted to…'

'Look, I'm a bit busy right now, could you call me back later? Thanks.' said Holly, all in one breath, then closed her communicator. Taking a deep breath, she resumed her work.

0 0 0 0 0

**Fowl Manor, Ireland**

Artemis was left bewildered in his room, wincing, as he clutched his ear in pain. _Maybe I should try Foaly_, thought Artemis, and dialled in the centaur's number. However, all he got was the answering machine, and so Artemis turned off the communicator. It seemed the mystery of the disappearing Emergency Systems file would have to wait.

_Everyone is busy tackling the demons, I suppose_, thought Artemis, as he distractedly took a book from the shelf in his study, and began to flick through it. However, his hands never moved; he did all of this telekinetically. He discovered that unlike normal fairies, his magic never ran out, as it fed on his body energy. He found that he was able to use telekinesis and telepathy as well as the standard _mesmer _and healing. He closed the book, and let it float gently back to its place in the shelf.

There were a few things he had yet to try; shielding was one of them, but he was more interested in the theory that if he could make other objects float, what about himself? He had managed to pick Minerva up earlier with his mind without much difficulty; surely it would be just as easy to lift himself up?

He stood up, and positioned himself in the centre of the room, where there was the most space. He then relaxed his breathing, and concentrated. Whenever he lifted something, he used willpower as well as visualizing to make the object move. As he got more and more used to it, he no longer had to relax and concentrate; it was instinctive. However, this time, he concentrated on himself, visualizing himself hovering in the air. He did not feel any movement, however, and disappointedly he opened his eyes.

For a second he thought he had suddenly grown half a metre in height, but when he looked down, he realized that he was hovering in the air as if he were standing on an invisible chair. He began to laugh, as he tested his balance; it was as if he was still on the ground. He began to take steps forward and backward, then attempted to hover upwards and downwards. As he got used to the feeling, he realized just how light his body felt, and how relaxed he was.

'Incredible,' he exclaimed, as he floated around the room, doing loops in the room. 'Absolutely incredible!'

0 0 0 0 0

**The Sacred Oak Warlock College, Haven**

No1 sat in the central orchard, watching the water fountain spew out water from a statue of three warlocks battling in some historic battle. He had just passed his final exam with flying colours; he was now officially a warlock, and a powerful one too. Ever since he had first discovered that he was a magical creature back on Hybras, his powers grew stronger and stronger under the guidance of the elderly warlock Qwan.

He sighed; even with his powers, he was still lonely. He was incredibly shy, and the only female he had ever wanted to talk to had been the demoness with the same runes that he had, but he had failed to find her before all the demons were rounded up.

He was startled when a hand suddenly grasped his shoulder. He looked up to see his mentor Qwan looking at him.

'What's with the long face, my boy? You've just passed with the highest score in the whole history of this college!' he said, seating himself beside the young warlock. No1 hesitated; it was embarrassing to talk about.

'I… I just feel quite lonely,' said No1 quietly, still looking at the fountain. 'I still can't find that demoness who has the same runes I do, and I'm just too shy to talk to anyone else apart from you, Qwan.' The old warlock chuckled.

'You're still going through puberty, I take it?' he asked knowingly. No1 nodded; it was pure hell. He had set many a student on fire because of the lighting bolts that were the result of it. 'It's perfectly normal to be shy, my boy. All you have to is get some confidence, like going into the midst of action and using your magic. That's what got me going.'

'But aren't warlocks just used to heal the wounded?' asked No1. Qwan sighed, and nodded.

'It was different back in my day. Back then, warlocks were the most valuable assets an army could have. Now we're just used as medics,' muttered Qwan. 'It's sad really, but with all these fancy weapons they have nowadays, they seem to have forgotten about us!'

A group of female warlocks passed the bench, and one of them waved at No1. He waved back, and managed a sheepish smile. The girl smiled, then continued talking with her friends. Qwan smiled.

'There, what's wrong with that then, eh?' said Qwan, nudging his apprentice in the ribs. 'Do you know her well?' No1 nodded, still smiling sheepishly.

'She's in most of my classes,' he replied, watching her walk into the other side of the building. 'Her name is Rose, I think. She passed the exam today too.'

'Well, if you know that much about her, go up and talk to her, get to know her!' suggested Qwan, grinning. 'I'm sure she'll be more than happy to spend some time with you if she greets you like that all the time. Oh, and if you need any advice about the fairer sex, just ask me, because I know everything there is to know!' With a wink and a pat on the shoulder, Qwan stood and left No1 by the fountain.

No 1 nodded as he watched his mentor walk away, but he knew he wouldn't be able to work up the courage. He sighed, and continued to watch the fountain. What he didn't know was that he and his mentor would soon be involved in an intense battle to save Haven.

* * *

Did you like that? Yes or no, tell me in a review!

_This review button is the one connection between author and reader, so use it frequently..._


	8. Revelations

This chapter is a personal favourite, especially the long dialogue between Holly and one of the conspirators. Read on!

The plan is finally revealed, along with the mysterious bad guy! (Judging from all your reviews, though, it seems to me that everyone already knows.)

Before we start, I just wanted to ask something: do most people hate the Artemis/Minerva pairing? I personally don't find it that bad, but looking around, it seems to me it's not that popular...Tell me, ok?

* * *

Chapter 7. –** Revelations**

**Section 8 Headquarters, Haven**

Foaly, for the first time in a week, was relaxed in his chair, drinking a can of carrot juice. He gazed at his computer screen; it was running a screensaver of some of his most cherished photos, which always cheered him up during bad times. One of them was a picture he had secretly taken when Holly had heard that he was getting married to Caballine; her reaction had been priceless. There were also some pictures from the picnic with Caballine, in which he had spilt the wine everywhere, and his attempts at cleaning it up had given Caballine something to tease him about for the rest of their hopefully long life together.

He was awoken from his thoughts when his communicator rang. Artemis was calling him again.

'Whatever this is better be good, mud boy,' grumbled Foaly as he flipped open the communicator.

'Finally,' muttered Artemis. 'Where have you been, my good friend? I've been trying to get through for quite a while now.'

'Well, let me put it this way, mud boy,' answered Foaly, grinning. 'Some people have a city to save from bloodthirsty demons, while others sit at home with their _girlfriends_. How is she, by the way?'

'She's very well, thank you,' answered Artemis, blushing slightly. 'But I called you because I've noticed that something is missing in your city maintenance systems.' Foaly frowned.

'What have you done, mud boy?' he asked as he browsed through the files.

'Oh no, it wasn't me. How could you even think about accusing me after all we've been through?' asked Artemis, smiling. 'But the hacker who was behind this is very good. None of my programs could stop the worm.' Foaly gasped in mock horror.

'Oh no! The great Artemis Fowl failed to stop this worm!,' cried Foaly, when he suddenly noticed that a very important file was missing: the Emergency Systems program. All the colour drained from his face, and he glared at criminal genius' face on the screen.

'Explain, mud boy,' he said, all the humour lost from his voice. 'And it better be useful.' Artemis sighed resignedly.

'I'm afraid not,' the protégé admitted. 'I made numerous attempts at trying to stop the worm, but it was to no avail. And when I tried to send one of my tracers, it was just flung off-course.' Foaly ground his horsey teeth together.

'This is not good, mud boy,' he muttered. 'That program took me over a year to polish off, and it'll take just as long to re-write it. We need to find who did this, and quick.' Artemis nodded, and closed his communicator. Foaly's frown deepened; if it had been Fowl, he would have not called, and the only other hacker he knew was capable of bypassing his security system was the notorious Opal Koboi, who was currently locked up in a specially constructed prison in Atlantis. He quickly checked the 24/7 camera feed in her cell, just to make sure she hadn't tried to destroy Haven _again_. However, she was just sitting there, reading _A Farewell to Arms _by Ernest Hemingway. _Huh_, thought Foaly, closing the feed. _If only you would. _

He sat back in his chair, his head resting on his hand. If it wasn't Artemis or Opal, who else could it be? Could it even be a human? Foaly was about to find out.

0 0 0 0 0

**Disused Chute, Haven**

Corporal Chix Verbil sat in the shuttle, mindlessly eyeing the walls of the dark chute. This was the job he hated most in the LEP: the mind-numbingly boring task of checking for criminal activity in the disused chutes, which there hardly ever was. What made it worse was that he had had to do this task alone, as everyone else was too 'busy'. And so he sat there, not expecting much to come up, and daydreamed of him and Holly prancing happily in some lush field. Which was why he nearly missed the figure stuck to the chute wall, hardly visible in the shadows.

He was jolted back to reality when he heard a barely audible cry to the right; he'd only heard it because it was so eerily silent. He jolted upright, and quickly manoeuvred the craft so that its strong beams were directed at the cracked wall. Surely enough, there was a figure, tied up and gagged, attached to the underside of a rock that was jutting out by thin rope so that it would not be too visible.

'By the Gods…' muttered Chix as he slowly turned the craft so that the door was mere inches away from the rock. He turned on the autopilot, putting it on 'stable', then got up and opened the door.

Chix hovered out of the shuttle, anxiously approaching the old elf who was tied to the rock. The elf craned his neck to see the sprite, who was now close enough to untie the rope. Following regulations, Chix began to reassure the elf.

'I'm from the LEP, and I'm going to untie you, then fly you back to base, do you understand?' he asked, looking the elf in the eye. The elf nodded, who then began to struggle against the rope, indicating that he wanted to be freed. Chix obliged, and undid the gag, then began to cut though the rope with short bursts from his Neutrino. The old elf began to breathe heavily, and smiled gratefully. _What an excellent officer_, thought Turnball. _It's a shame I'll have to get rid of him. _

'Before I cut the final strand of rope, I want you to grip my moon-belt tightly so you don't fall,' said Chix, pointing to the belt around his waist. Turnball obliged, holding onto the belt as Chix cut the final bit of rope, freeing the elf. Chix flew back into the shuttle, and when Turnball was comfortably onboard, he closed the door.

'May I ask who you are, officer?' asked Turnball, reaching into his pocket.

'My name's Chix Verbil, if you must know,' replied Chix, returning to his seat. Turnball took out a cigarette case, but instead of a cigarrete, he took out a tranquillizer dart.

'Well, it's been a pleasure, Mr. Verbil,' muttered Turnball as he plunged the dart into the sprite's neck. Chix's eyes went wide, then he slumped in his chair. Turnball quickly moved the unconscious body over to the co-pilot seat, then disengaged all the tracker systems and emergency alerts that would have led the LEP to the disgraced captain. When he was satisfied that he was clear, he smiled ominously, then engaged the manual pilot, and flew at top speed out of Haven.

0 0 0 0 0

**(Later) Section 8 Headquarters, Haven**

Holly sat at her desk going through the final piece of work for the. Above ground, it was getting very dark, but because there was no natural light in Haven, the many agents of Section 8 kept on working straight through the night. Holly, having the feeling that there would be another load of work arriving the next day, decided to cram as much as she could that day, then fall asleep on the desk.

She was about to fall asleep when her communicator rang. 'D'Arvit…' she swore as she looked at who was calling: _Unknown Number_. Curious, she opened the communicator.

'Hello?' she said into the mouthpiece. The voice that replied was chillingly familiar.

'Hello, my dear Captain Short, a pleasure to hear from you again,' said Turnball, somehow both coldly and charmingly at the same time. 'I see you passed the initiation after all that you went through. Congratulations.' Back when Holly was attempting the initiation to become a Captain, Turnball and his two associates had jeopardized the situation, nearly killing both Trouble and the late Commander Julius Root.

'Turnball Root, how did you get this number, and what do you want?' said Holly, clenching her fists. He was the last person she wanted to talk to at the moment.

'Oh, I have my sources,' came the reply. 'What I have called you for, however, is much more important.' Holly, despite her hatred, was intrigued.

'And what's so important that you have the nerve to call me in a public place?' asked Holly. Turnball chuckled.

'I know you will have your doubts when you hear this, my dear Captain, but I want you to hear me out first,' said Turnball. 'You see, until recently, I was involved in a certain plot that would destroy Haven. The fairy behind the plan had been working on the plan for several years, and now has everything in place. He is ready to initiate, and he will do so with no hesitation whatsoever.' Holly scowled.

'Why should I trust you? You're an enemy of the People,' said Holly, but she had a feeling that he was not lying.

'Oh, that's for you to decide, Captain,' answered Turnball slyly. 'However, I am willing to tell you all that you need to know... for a price.' Holly snorted.

'You are in no position to negotiate, you bastard,' retorted Holly. 'You escaped from a sentence at Howler's Peak. Once you are re-captured, it'll be extended to life!' Turnball chuckled again.

'Ah, but you see, my dear Captain,' answered the elf in a sickeningly arrogant tone. 'If you do not act now, the whole of Haven and possibly its neighbouring cities will be destroyed. After all you've been through, imagine how appalling it would feel when you realize that if you'd listened, Haven could have been saved…' Turnball trailed off. Holly knew he was right; she had to listen, in case he wasn't lying, and Haven really was in danger.

'Alright, I'm listening,' said Holly wearily. 'What do you want in exchange?'

'Amnesty would be nice, don't you think?' replied the elf, annoying Holly even more. 'Yes, amnesty from past crimes will do. Of course, if I cannot stop myself from resuming my criminal activities, you may arrest me. That is, if you can catch me…'

'I'll see what I can do,' said Holly. 'But only if what you tell me is genuine. Now talk.'

'Very well. As I said earlier, a certain fairy is about to initiate a plan that will destroy the whole city of Haven. He plans to do this by flooding the entire area.'

'How? There can't be enough water around to flood the whole of Haven!' asked Holly.

'Ah, but there is,' answered Turnball, smiling a vampire smile not dissimilar to Artemis'. 'As you should very well know, Haven is built underground, and is situated next to the Northern Sea. On the east side of the city, there is a rock face which you should be able to see from Police Plaza. It is not very thick compared to the rest of the surrounding rock, a mere 30 metres, and it just barely holds the water back. There have been numerous attempts to reinforce the wall, one of which is the titanium supports, and it is holding on. Barely. Now, if enough explosives were drilled into the rock face, the entire slab will crack, and the water will do the rest of the work. Haven will be flooded, and no one will survive.'

An ominous silence followed as Turnball let the fact sink in.

'But what about the emergency walls? And what about the conspirators? How are they going to get away?' asked Holly, furiously scribbling everything down. To Holly's great annoyance, Turnball chuckled in his arrogant way yet again.

'Very good, very good. Well, the fairy behind this has managed to establish a contact within the LEP, and has used her expansive hacking skills to effectively destroy the emergency systems. The flood will spread like the Plague,' explained the elf. 'As for the conspirators… well, let me put it to you this way: the gnome behind this likes to call himself 'Noah'. Does that give you any clues?' Holly thought for a minute, then she suddenly remembered: she had been reading about mud men religion, and one of the stories told by 'Christians' was about a man called Noah, who had been told to build… an ark.

'Noah's Ark…' muttered Holly. Suddenly, all the pieces came together.

'Bravo, Captain,' applauded Turnball. 'Indeed, Noah has taken over a rather large luxury cruiser and has renamed it the 'Ark of Triumph'. Rather too dramatic for my taste, but I kept it to myself. If you would care to check, you will probably find a very interesting story about a missing cruiser as well as a very important senator.'

Holly quickly opened up an internet page, and the first thing that came up was an emergency news flash: '_The luxury cruiser, the _Dolphin Queen_, was hijacked by terrorists earlier today, along with the respected senator of Atlantis, Ghatta Gorg. The senator had been called to Haven to offer help to deal with the current demon situation, when during the trip here the giant cruiser was taken over by a large group of terrorists, mostly demons. The current whereabouts of both the cruiser and the senator are still unknown. Stay tuned for more reports on this story._'

Holly sat in her chair, unbelieving. _Could the traitor's words be true? _Pondered Holly. _Could someone really be trying to re-enact a theological mud man's story?_

'Now Captain, about that amnesty…' began Turnball, interrupting her thoughts. However, Holly was having none of it.

'Hold it, Turnball, I'm not finished yet,' said Holly, cutting the elf off mid-sentence. 'Why have the demons agreed to this? Who is the mole? And who is Noah?'

'Tut, tut, tut,' muttered Turnball. 'So many questions, so little time. But I will enlighten you nonetheless.

'It was relatively simple to convince the demons to join our cause. When the demons had crashed one of the shuttles, Noah leapt at the chance, and gathered many of the surviving demons in an abandoned Koboi Enterprises factory. All they wanted was to go aboveground and attack the humans, and we were more than happy to promise them that. They would be beaten very quickly anyway, and they might be classified as a new animal or something outrageous like that. And so we made a bargain: they help us accomplish all that Noah wanted, in exchange for transporting the demons to the land of humans.

'The mole… well, she isn't actually a mole, she's been in the force for quite a while, I suspect…' Alarm bells suddenly began ringing in Holly's head. _Wait a minute_, she thought. _She… there's only one other female officer in LEPrecon…But that must mean…_

'Are you trying to say that the one who hacked into Foaly's systems was Lili Frond?' asked Holly, unbelieving. 'She's just an airhead!'

'Ah, but that's what she wanted you to think,' retorted Turnball. 'She is actually an exceptional hacker, and it took her no time to waltz past your paranoid centaur's security measures to get to that program. She's also participating in finding a creature agile enough to scale the wall and plant the explosives. A creature who has the ability to stick to walls, preferably. I suppose there is only one family of fairies who can do that…' Holly's mind was cast back to the day she had visited Mulch in the P.I. office. His irises had been jagged, and he said that a certain elf had been visiting recently. _Oh Gods, _Holly suddenly realized. _Mulch is in danger!_

'What else were you asking me about? Ah yes, the fairy behind it all,' said Turnball. 'This gnome is delirious, in my humble opinion. He has lost his morals, and no longer cares if a few million fairies die. Frond was the only supporter of Noah and his ideas back in the LEP, but he was kicked out when his views on the demons didn't bode well with the Council. I assume you now know of whom we are talking about. It was only three years ago, you know.' Holly was in for many realizations that night.

_Three years ago… Ideas on demons didn't bode well with the Council…_ Holly mulled it over in her head, when it suddenly hit her. From her sharp intake of breath, Turnball knew she had realized just who was behind all this.

'It's an ingenious plan, I'll give him that,' said Turnball smoothly. 'And all this ark business fits in quite nicely with his name, don't you think?'

But Holly never heard the rest of Turnball's snide comments. Her thoughts were all concentrated on a certain gnome, whose sole existence was the reason she had left the LEP in the first place.

_Ark Sool.

* * *

_Everything has been revealed! Well, the most important stuff like when hasn't been revealed, but you'll find out. Now comes the exciting bit: how will Artemis stop them? Dun-dun-DUUUUNNN.

Until then, review this story.


	9. Never a Quiet Day

Quite a short chapter this time; I think this is plenty, though. I have to admit, it's not the best chapter I've ever written (although I do like what Vinyáya says about Turnball), but it's better than nothing...

Thanks goes to KelsE, who reminded me about the answering-of-reviews business. I really don't see why not (I've been doing it for ages), but I'd rather not risk it, so I'll just have to reply to each one individually instead.

I want to know more about what people think about this Artemis/Minerva business. So far, only KelsE's given me her opinions about this; there must be more people who care! Tell me! If enough of you give me your opinions, the whole ending might change, so hurry!

* * *

Chapter 8. – **Never a Quiet Day**

**Section 8 HQ, Haven **

'Now, Captain Short, I must leave you,' said Turnball as he moved to switch off his communicator.

'No, wait!' exclaimed Holly, stopping him. 'One last thing: why are you telling me all this?' Turnball chuckled, then sighed.

'Well, you see, my dear Captain,' said Turnball slowly. 'I revealed this plan to you for two reasons: first, even though you may see me as a heartless, merciless beast, I do have morals, and I cannot let countless innocents get killed by a homicidal maniac. After all, he did murder both of my associates with great psychopathic glee, throwing them to the demons afterwards.' Holly snorted, but didn't interrupt. She remembered the sprite with no wings and the dwarf with a sombrero; she felt the slightest pang of pity, but didn't let it show. There was a pause, then Turnball continued.

'The second reason is yourself, Captain Short,' said Turnball slowly. Holly's eyes widened. 'You see, when Julius was still alive, it gave me great pleasure in using my resources and my cunning to fool him in my activities; sibling rivalry, you might say. But when he died, I suddenly felt as if I'd lost the sole reason I'd been executing these plans in the first place. But then I remembered _you_, from all those years ago back on the Tern Islands.

'You are very similar to Julius in the sense that you never let go of the criminals you are after, and that you have a very strong sense of right and wrong. You are also intelligent, and you have very good resources yourself. This makes it much more interesting for me as a mastermind of illegal endeavours, and I will have no hard feelings if you are able to capture me. That is why I cannot allow this monstrosity to happen.' Holly thought for a moment, then answered.

'So you're saying that you want Haven to be saved, just so that you can continue committing crimes on innocent people?' asked Holly. 'That's basically assuring me you'll return to your criminal activities _if _you are granted your amnesty!' Turnball laughed, then said, 'I suppose so, Captain Short. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck. When all this is over, I will call you again to confirm my reward. Until then…' He ended the call. Holly sat in her chair for a few seconds, letting it all sink in.

Then, to the surprise of everyone around her, she suddenly jumped out of her chair and ran to Foaly's office as fast as she could.

0 0 0 0 0

**Fowl Manor, Ireland**

Artemis sat in his room, meditating. Thanks to his magic, he was floating about half a metre above the floor, which seemed to help the mastermind as he cleared his mind and relaxed. _What could someone achieve from deleting the Emergency Systems program? _wondered Artemis, searching through his expansive brain to come up with an answer. Of course, in Haven, Holly and Foaly were already frantically talking about what they should do, but fortunately for the People, Artemis' magic didn't go as far as to eavesdropping through several kilometres of solid rock.

Very much to his annoyance, his thoughts were interrupted by Butler, who walked into his room carrying a tray with a teapot and a cup. To any other human, the sight of the pale fifteen-year old boy hovering in the air would have quite possibly made them faint. Butler, however, had seen too many surrealthings in his life as Artemis' bodyguard to the extent that he didn't even raise an eyebrow.

'You've discovered a new trick, I see,' said Butler, as he poured some Earl Grey into the teacup. 'Have you told Holly about your magic yet?' Artemis scowled, and shook his head.

'No, I haven't, and I think I'll keep it to myself until I deem it necessary to reveal it. However, I accidentally revealed some of my powers to Minerva, when she threw a hairbrush at me,' said Artemis, rubbing his temples. 'Needless to say, she took it rather badly, and I presume she is still in her room, in shock.' Before he could continue, the ring on his finger began vibrating, and Artemis floated back down onto his feet to answer the call.

'Hello?' he said into his pinkie.

'Artemis, this is Holly. We need you to come down here _now_. A shuttle is waiting by Tara,' said Holly, obviously in a rush. When Artemis was about to reply, she practically screamed, 'No time for your snide comments, just get your arse over here _now_! Haven is going to be destroyed by Sool!'

Butler, who had been watching his young charge intently, noticed the boy's eyes go wide, and immediately knew something was wrong.

'Artemis?' he asked, worried that something had happened. He was right.

'I'm afraid we're not going to have much time for tea, old friend,' said Artemis simply. Butler understood immediately, and nodded grimly. He walked out of the room to gather various items that would come in useful.

Artemis sighed. _Will there ever be a quiet day for the People? _He pondered, then smiled. _I suppose not_. He took a sip from the cup (perhaps enough time for a small sip...), then walked out of the room, and closed the door.

0 0 0 0 0

**Section 8 HQ, Haven**

Four people were sat around the ops room in Section 8 HQ: Holly, Foaly, Trouble, and Commander Vinyáya. Holly was doing most of the talking, and had just finished telling them what Turnball had told her about Sool's plan. Foaly and Trouble looked convinced, but Vinyáya looked sceptical, as it was part of her job.

'Holly, how can we trust this elf?' asked the commander. 'He's a common criminal, he was working with the conspirators until recently, and worstof all, he nearly caused Trouble here to biodegrade!'

'It's true that this elf is not to be trusted,' countered Holly. 'But what he is saying fits in with everything we've seen: the deleted program, the missing cruiser, Mulch… I think we need to take action now.' Vinyáya sat back in her chair, and thought for a while; then she nodded. 'OK, what do you need?' she asked.

'Well, I'm not sure yet, but I'm sure Artemis will,' said Holly. 'I've sent Grub to fetch him from Tara.' Trouble grinned.

'I wish I could see Grub's face when he sees who he has to bring over,' muttered Trouble. 'Especially that man-mountain, Butler.' He still had bitter memories of that night, but he was more annoyed by the fact that his little brother insisted on bragging that he had been the only one who hadn't been knocked out that night. The only reason that was so was because Butler had decided to let him go.

Vinyáya smiled briefly, but then resumed her serious demeanour.

'Did Turnball mention anything about a date?' asked Vinyáya. Holly shook her head.

'He only said that if we don't act soon, Haven will be wiped out by the flood,' said Holly. 'We need to be prepared. We may even have to evacuate the section of the city where the rock will be blown, as a safety precaution.' The Wing Commander nodded, then walked out of the room and back into her office to make the required arrangements.

Holly took a deep breath as she leaned back in her chair. Foaly had returned to his the lab to see if anything else had been removed or meddled with, and Trouble decided it was about time to return to LEP headquarters. He _was_ the commander after all.

_Will there ever be a quiet day for the people? _wondered Holly as she sighed, then smiled. _I suppose not._

0 0 0 0 0

**Aboard the _Dolphin Queen_, a.k.a. the Ark of Triumph, disused chute connected to the surface**

Ark Sool, or Noah as he liked to be called, sat in the conference room of the cruiser, brooding over the loss of his ally, as well as the time of the initiation.

'He did have it coming with all those ill-gotten morals of his,' he muttered aloud, tapping the table. Shrugging, he moved on; the past was the past, except for his personal vendetta against the Council and the LEP. It always made him feel better when he thought about the fact that the thick, senseless bunch of nitwits would soon be wiped out, along with the rest of the city.

He moved onto the more urgent matter at hand. He knew that he couldn't postpone the plan any longer, but the demons, the unorganised bunch that they were, were still being gathered and transported from the Koboi Enterprises factory to the cruiser. His henchmen had assured him that the rest of the demons would be aboard by the end of the week.

Sool stood up and walked towards the window. He looked out towards the direction of the busy city of the People, and saw in his mind the countless innocents, mothers, fathers, and children of all families. He imagined their horror-stricken faces as the water engulfed them, destroying everything they had taken for granted…

_Enjoy your last days of freedom, you ungrateful fools…_he thought to himself, sneering. He then decided to tell his contact the time of initiation.

He opened his communicator, and called Lili Frond, who was currently lounging around at her desk. When she answered, he muttered three words, then immediately closed his communicator.

'Three days.'

* * *

And with that cliffhanger ending, I must leave you to return to school. To find out what happens, you'll have to wait until Christmas! Until then, goodbye!

_Oh yeah, I don't mind you reviewing. I might not have enough time to write, but I'll certainly have enough time to read your comments and reply..._


	10. Arrival of the Cavalry

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm back.

Things finally start to heat up as Artemis comes down to Haven to team up with Section 8, while Sool and Frond begin preparations to initiate the flood of Haven. Hopefully, I'll get quite close to the end of the story by the New Year, maybe even finish it (fingers crossed)! Anyway, enjoy...

* * *

Chapter 9. – **Arrival of the Cavalry**

**Tara, Ireland**

Butler parked the Bentley behind a cluster of bushes so that it would not be seen, and stepped out of the car. He collected his bag of useful items, and followed Artemis towards the fairy fort.

To the normal eye, the fort looked just like any other bit of countryside, but Artemis knew that behind the grass and soil was a bustling, state-of-the-art fairy shuttle port. Artemis suddenly realized that the other fairies might see them, but he reassured himself that Holly would have made suitable arrangements. He hoped so, especially because Butler was coming too. The mere shadow of the massive bodyguard would frighten the fairies senseless.

They waited, watching the fort for any sign of opening. By this time, it was already pitch black, and so nobody apart from the protégé and his bodyguard saw a helmeted head suddenly pop out of the side of the hill. However, the silence was broken when Grub suddenly saw whom he was bringing down to Haven. He squealed, and if it hadn't been for Butler, would have fallen over and smacked his head on the metal floor. Artemis couldn't resist a quiet chuckle.

'Corporal Grub Kelp, I presume,' said Artemis, walking through the hologram and into the fort. 'What a pleasant surprise.' Grub tried to reply, but ended up gibbering.

'Y, you're… Artemis F,fowl,' he managed, then looked up at the massive Eurasian who had lifted him back onto his feet. 'And, and y'you're B,butler!'

'Enough of the introductions, I think,' said Artemis briskly, walking down the corridor. Butler nodded, pushing Grub along in front of him, who was still gibbering.

'I, I'm s,s,spposed t,to bring y,you two?' said Grub. 'Oh, g,gods…' Butler smiled.

'Don't worry, little one, I won't hurt you,' reassured Butler, pushing Grub along. 'We need to get to Haven, and it would appear that you're the only pilot suitable for the job!' Grub nodded, and tried to compose himself, although his serious face always fell when he glanced behind to see the Eurasian bodyguard.

The shuttle port seemed deserted, and Artemis smiled to himself. Holly, even in her rush, had thought this one through. Of course, having Trouble as the LEP commander must have made it much easier.

The group walked over to the shuttle ports, where a relatively large shuttle was waiting. Grub had sufficiently calmed down to speak normally.

'When Trub… I mean the _commander _told me to take this one, I thought I was taking a whole group of fairies,' he said, unlocking the door, making sure not to look up at Butler. 'I never thought it would be because I'd be bringing down two Mud Men to Haven!' Butler smiled sheepishly, but Artemis became impatient.

'Enough pleasantries, Corporal,' said Artemis, bending down to enter the shuttle. 'I suspect we have an emergency in our hands, and I do not want to waste time.' Grubs nodded, and after making sure his passengers were comfortable (to an extent for Butler), he hit the ignition, and they were off down to the bowels of the Earth once again.

0 0 0 0 0

**Section 8 Headquarters, Haven**

'Artemis is on his way,' announced Holly to the rest of the group. 'Let's hope he has a better plan than the rest of us.' Trouble and Foaly nodded; they had both come up with their own plans on how to combat the threat, and no matter how much they argued, they kept finding flaws in each other's arguments, and they were eventually reduced to silence; especially humiliating for Foaly. Vinyáya had watched the argument in amusement, and although she also her own ideas as to what to do, she was wise enough to keep her mouth shut.

'I've sent out an evacuation order to the Council, and hopefully they'll begin moving people out by the end of the day,' reported Vinyáya. 'The excuse is that we're doing more work to reinforce the rock face again.' Holly nodded, and looked at the 3D model of the specific section of Haven floating at the centre of the table. The buildings and the rock face were hovering in mid-air, a lattice of green lasers; the truth was, they still had no idea exactly when or how Sool was going to execute his plan. The only concrete facts they had were that the gnome planned to flood Haven by blowing up the rock face, and that somehow Mulch and Frond were involved. The pieces of the puzzle were laid before them, and all they needed to do now was to piece them together. Unfortuantely, they were missing the final and most important piece of the puzzle: the date of impact. They therefore had to be ready before Sool was, and needed a plan. This was the reason why Holly had called Artemis down to Haven in the first place; however, she also had a sneaking suspicion that he was hiding something big from the People.

'The section of the rock where it's thinnest is here,' said Holly, indicating with her finger. A glowing red circle appeared around her finger, attaching itself to the model. 'According to Foaly's calculations, Sool will need to attach a large explosive at the central point, and a ring of eight smaller explosives around it to achieve maximum impact. He also did a bit of research, and discovered that some powerful Semtex plastic explosives were stolen from a high security research lab in the Czech Republic a while ago, along with some ANFO explosives (1). We suspect that Sool will plant the Semtex in the centre connected to a detonator, and the ANFO in a ring around it. The Semtex should detonate the ANFO, effectively destroying the rock.'

'What if we could set up an explosive defusing kit behind a hologram of the rock?' asked Trouble. 'We could use those clay devices Foaly invented that dissolve the explosives into less hazardous components.' Foaly looked quite pleased that one of his latest inventions may be put to test in a real-life situation. However, Vinyáya shook her head.

'Foaly, you yourself said they would need to drill the explosives into the rock,' the Wing Commander pointed out. 'I think they'll notice if we planted an acidic clay defusion kit, especially because it'll dissolve their drills too.' The group fell into silence once again, apart from Foaly munching at a carrot which had somehow appeared out of nowhere.

0 0 0 0 0

**VIP Shuttle Port, Haven**

Lili Frond walked briskly down the corridor, wearing a long, plain overcoat and a hat to cover her face. She needed to escape Haven before the wheels of the plan were set in motion. However, there was no need to disguise herself, as the entire shuttle port seemed to be empty.

_I wonder where everyone else is_, wondered Frond, as she reached the private docks. She walked down to the farthest dock, where a relatively small shuttle sat. It was a sleek, dazzling black shuttle, and looked as if it would disappear in seconds. And much to Frond's delight, it had the ability to do just that.

She checked the security camera feed to check if anyone would see her departure, and to her surprise, she saw a large shuttle dock into one of the large bays. However, when she saw its passengers, she nearly fell off her chair.

'Fowl and Butler?' screamed Frond, and if it weren't for the soundproof walls of the cabin, Artemis would have heard it without a doubt. 'Why are _they _here?' She watched as they were led by Grub Kelp across the deserted arrivals hall, and through to the private exit. Once she was sure they were gone, she activated the shuttle and expertly manoeuvred the shuttle out of the port.

'Noah isn't going to like this,' she muttered, heading for the abandoned Koboi Enterprises factory.

0 0 0 0 0

To Grub's surprise, there was a large truck waiting in front of the private exit. When a burly elf stepped out of the vehicle, Grub walked up to him to protest; however, the moment the elf showed his Special Council Task Force badge, the corporal was silenced.

The elf led Artemis and Butler to the back of the vehicle without showing any signs of being startled by the giant man. Artemis admired the elf's professionalism, and wished that Grub would take a leaf from this elf's book, although he knew that it was hopeless. Once the two humans were seated, the silent fairy slammed the door shut, plunging them into darkness. Artemis could hear Butler rustling around in his bag, and soon a single beam of light penetrated the shadows.

'I'd rather we weren't completely blind, Artemis,' said Butler, taking out his Sig Sauer. 'I don't know about you, but I don't like the look of that elf.' Artemis chuckled.

'My friend, if that elf hadn't been given prior notice to your forthcoming, I'm sure he would have reacted in the same way Grub did,' answered Artemis. 'I very much doubt he is with the enemy, and even if he was, I doubt he'd be so calm.' Butler grunted, and holstered his weapon, but kept the torch on. He didn't relinquish the grip on his gun, either.

Artemis sat back, and marvelled at how smooth the ride was. Because the vehicle was hovering in mid-air, it felt as if they weren't moving at all.

_I must check how these things work, _thought Artemis. _Once things have quietened down. I wonder how long it will take this time? _

The elf drove for about ten minutes, then the truck came to a halt. Butler switched off the torch, and flicked the safety off his gun, just in case Artemis had been wrong. Luckily, the protégé's common sense hadn't failed him, and when the doors opened they found themselves looking at the vehicle bay of Section 8 Headquarters. The bay in itself was a marvel for Artemis, who had not yet heard about Section 8, but more was yet to come.

Artemis stepped out of the truck followed by Butler, and was led by the burly elf into a corridor lined with even more sophisticated security equipment than Artemis had ever dreamed of. Artemis was entranced, taking in every single detail.

'I see we have a lot to discuss, mud boy,' came a voice, as if its owner was standing right next to Artemis. The mastermind smiled towards one of the cameras.

'Indeed we do, Foaly,' answered Artemis. 'What exactly is this place?'

'All will be revealed soon…' answered the centaur in a mock mysterious voice. Artemis realised that they had come to the end of the corridor, and they were facing what seemed to be a giant mirror.

'Stick your hand in the wall, please,' instructed Foaly. 'We want your fingerprints, pulse rate, et cetera for later use.' Artemis obliged, and was startled when his hand plunged straight into the wall as if it were liquid. He heard Butler grunt something about the Matrix, and Artemis couldn't help but think whether if Foaly had gotten the idea from watching that particular film.

'Alright, that should be enough,' said Foaly, and the wall began to slide up. 'Welcome to Section 8 Headquarters!' And for Artemis, this was the most incredible sight of all.

* * *

(1) If you have absolutely no idea what I'm on about, type 'explosives' into Wikipedia, and scroll down a bit.

I thought this might be a good place to leave it, just as a little taster. From the next chapter onwards, we're gonna get serious...

_Please review! I'll answer them, honest!_


	11. Taking the Risk

Fortunately for you readers, the updates are rattling in. In this chapter, our favourite bunch of fairies begin to prepare for the impending attack following instructions from Artemis. Keep the reviews coming in, folks!

* * *

Chapter 10. – **Taking the Risk**

**Section 8 Headquarters, Haven**

'Artemis! Butler!' called Holly, rushing up to meet them. She hugged the mastermind (who hastily remembered to keep his hormones in check), and shook hands with the bodyguard, who was on his knees with his head brushing the ceiling. 'It hasn't been very long since we last met, has it Artemis?'

'No, indeed not,' answered Artemis, smiling. He looked around in wonder, and asked, 'What exactly is this place, did you say?'

'This is Section 8, a secret Council organization created to combat demons,' answered Vinyáya, stepping out from behind Holly. She walked over and shook hands with both men. 'I'm Wing Commander Vinyáya, and I run things here at Section 8. Please, come with me.'

The group followed Vinyáya into the Conference Room, where Foaly was working. He seemed engrossed in what was on the screen, a frown pasted across his brow.

'What is it, Foaly?' asked Holly, worried. The centaur spun around on his chair to answer when he spotted Artemis and Butler.

'How are my favourite mud people?' asked Foaly, but his voice lacked his usual light-heartedness, and his smile was forced. 'They better be on their toes, 'cause this situation is getting worse by the minute.' He turned to Holly to answer her question.

'Trouble just contacted me to say that Frond has disappeared from Police Plaza,' said Foaly. 'Since we already know she's involved very deeply, I think it's safe to say that the wheels have begun to turn. I've tried to track her whereabouts, but she's proving to be very elusive.'

Holly slumped in a chair, and stared at the 3D model of the rock face hovering on the table. _So it begins... _thought Holly. They needed to act quickly, or countless lives would be lost; in fact, they may already be too late. She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, and looked up to see Artemis smiling reassuringly down at her.

'I can't form a plan if I have absolutely no idea about the situation, no matter how intelligent I might be,' said Artemis, taking a seat next to her. 'Tell me everything.'

And so, for the next fifteen minutes, she filled him in on everything they knew about the situation, and Foaly also played him a recording of Holly's conversation with Turnball. Artemis was slightly surprised when he discovered that the late Commander had a brother, even more so when he was told Turnball was a wanted criminal, but did not comment. He listened carefully, mentally noting every single detail in his expansive mind.

After Holly was finished, Artemis sat back, and closed his eyes. Everyone kept silent (even Foaly had stopped typing), and watched the genius intently. He opened one eye, and looked at the 3D model for a few seconds, then closed it again. The tension grew as minutes passed; Holly willed Artemis to think faster. _We don't have enough time! _she screamed in her head. _Come on, Artemis!_

Finally, after a few more tense minutes, Artemis snapped open his eyes, and sat up straight.

'I've analyzed all possible methods of combating the threat,' said Artemis, gazing intently at the model of the rock face. 'And unfortunately, the best way also carries the highest risk.'

'Artemis, all your plans as far as I know have been risky,' replied Holly, smiling. 'It wouldn't have been fun otherwise. As long as it works, we'll go for it.' Artemis thought for a few seconds, then turned to Holly.

'For this to work, we'll need a few people to help us,' said Artemis, choosing his words carefully. 'How co-operative is the warlock community?'

0 0 0 0 0

**Aboard the Ark of Triumph, disused chute**

Ark Sool watched as Frond's shuttle entered the Ark, leaning heavily on his stick. Smiling, he walked back inside, and used the lift to go down to the shuttle bay of the Ark. Much to his annoyance, the lift stopped when he was halfway down.

The doors opened to reveal a large demon. As they had been instructed, the demon bowed when he saw Sool, but instead of taking the stairs like any polite, remotely intelligent creature would have done, the demon casually stepped inside and stood next to the gnome. The demon was one of the largest onboard, only beaten in size and strength by Gristle, and needless to say, space was scarce inside the lift.

Sool's contempt was open on his face, but the demon was completely oblivious, staring at the numbers on the display above going down. In fact, he was so engrossed by the numbers that when his stop came, he remained standing in the lift. Sool could not hold on any longer.

'You utter and complete freak of nature!' screamed Sool, smacking the demon with his stick. 'Stop staring at the numbers and get off!' The demon looked bewildered as he was pushed out of the lift, and just stood there and stared as the doors closed. A good fifteen minutes later, the demon shrugged, and tried to remember what he had been sent down in the first place.

Sool stepped out of the lift seething, but was immediately calmed when he caught sight of Frond. She waved him over, and he walked up to her, a smile on his face once more. However, Frond was not smiling.

'What's wrong, my dear?' asked Sool, worried. 'Has something happened?' Frond nodded, and looked at the screen on her wrist computer.

'I think the LEP are onto us,' said Frond hesitantly. Sool's smile froze on his face. 'I found Foaly trying to track me down, which means they've found out I've disappeared. I have the feeling that Turnball somehow survived, and ratted us out.'

Sool spun on his heel, and closed his eyes, weighing the options. Frond watched fearfully as the gnome turned around to face her again, but was relieved to find he was still smiling. However, she decided to keep the appearance of Artemis and Butler to herself, just in case he was less accepting.

'My dear, they can do nothing now,' said Sool reassuringly. 'If everything goes as planned, the People will be caught on the back foot, and there will be nothing to stop the onslaught before them. As long as Mr. Diggums does as he was instructed, we are in safe hands.'

'Oh, I wouldn't worry about that dwarf,' said the elf, giggling. 'I've made sure that he won't _dare _to make a mistake.' Sool chuckled, and escorted Frond to the lift.

'I hope so, my dear,' muttered the gnome as they entered the lift. 'Or I may begin to doubt your loyalties to me.' Frond shuddered as the doors shut, closing them off from the rest of the world.

0 0 0 0 0

**The Sacred Oak Warlock College, Haven**

A group of warlocks including No1 and Qwan sat in the main orchard, waiting nervously. They had been called for by the Head Warlock, an old elf by the name of Baldiran, and were told it was a matter of the most utmost importance. That had been half an hour ago, and the group of fifteen sat bored out of their minds, waiting for the message.

No1 looked around the group; there was a wide range of age within the group, from teachers to recently graduated students. However, there was one rather obvious connection within all of them: they were the most powerful warlocks available in the whole college. _I suppose I should be honoured,_ thought No1 to himself. _Whatever we've been called for must be big. _

He suddenly spotted Rose in a group of female warlocks, and realized she had been looking at him for most of the time. She smiled when their eyes met, and after another moment of gazing at him, turned to face her friends. No1 blushed, and immediately stared at his feet. He felt a nudge in his ribs, and looked up to see Qwan grinning at him from ear to ear.

'I saw that, my lad,' said the old warlock, continuing to nudge his apprentice in the ribs. No1 smiled sheepishly, and was saved from further interrogation when Baldiran finally entered the courtyard, followed by a female elf with auburn hair.

The imp immediately recognized the elf as Captain Holly Short, but decided to keep the greetings for later, as both elves had very grim expressions.

'Ladies and gentlemen, this is Captain Holly Short from the Council,' introduced the old warlock in his usually gravelly voice. 'It appears that our services are required to prevent one of the most daring terrorist plots to grace the underground since that Koboi woman tried to take over with goblins. We are to be transported to the east side of the city, where the wall of rock separates us from the Northern Sea, and there we will receive further instructions. Please follow me.'

Whispering in hushed tones, the group of warlocks was led to a large truck parked outside the college. Holly watched them climb in anxiously; it was indeed an extremely risky plan, especially if the warlocks did not have enough power to fulfill their task. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned around to see No 1 grinning happily at her.

'Hi, Captain!' said the imp, waving. 'I never thought I'd see you again after that incident in Hybras!' Qwan, who was standing behind his apprentice, stepped forward and pushed him along and up into the truck. Holly could not help but smile at the comical duo.

'I'm sorry about No1, Captain,' said Qwan apologetically. 'I think all this about saving Haven has gotten to his head!' She waved it off, and got into the truck behind Qwan. When everyone was seated, the truck began to move towards the east side of the city.

As they got closer, No1 noticed that many people were traveling in the opposite direction to them, carrying large bags and annoyance in their expressions. He turned around to ask Holly what was going on, but she was engrossed in a conversation with his master Qwan, and so decided to not interrupt.

'No1?' came a voice from his right. He looked around, and to his surprise, he was face to face with Rose. 'Hi.'

'I, uh, cough um... hi,' stuttered No1, turning away quickly to hide his blush. Rose smiled warmly, and placed her slender hand on his shoulder.

'Don't worry, I won't bite,' she said jokingly. 'There's no need to get embarrassed.' No1 turned around to face her again, smiling sheepishly and still sporting a blush; Rose couldn't help but giggle. For the first time, the two young warlocks held a conversation, and as No1 became more and more relaxed, they became more animated, and soon they were laughing together. Qwan saw all this from the corner of his eye, and smiled happily for his apprentice. _Good on you, my boy, _he thought to himself.

Very soon, the truck came to a stop, and Holly helped Qwan off the truck. No1 and Rose climbed out still chatting, but were hushed by Qwan, who had walked up behind them.

'No more chatting now,' he said quietly. 'I have the feeling things are about to get serious.' The moment the old warlock said those words, a figure appeared from the shadows. From his height and figure, it was obvious that he was human. No1 raised his hands, preparing to attack the stranger if he came any closer.

'I would prefer it if you refrained from frying my brain, No1,' said Artemis, coming into view. 'I hope to live for many years to come, if that's alright with you.' No1 immediately lowered his hands, and rushed over to greet the mastermind.

'What a lovely reunion, eh Qwan?' said No1 to his master. He then turned to Rose. 'Rose, this is Artemis Fowl the Second; he has an intellect second to none above and under the world. Artemis, this is Rose, one of the most powerful warlocks from the College.' Artemis nodded politely, as did Rose. No1 began to fill Rose in with the events from Hybras only a few weeks before, while Artemis walked over to Holly. A few of the warlocks looked up at Artemis in alarm, but seeing that Holly was unperturbed by his presence, they decided to leave him be until he'd said what he had to say.

'Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please,' called Artemis, beckoning the group of warlocks closer. 'My name is Artemis Fowl the Second, and I've been called in by the Council to assist them in preventing this terrorist plot from succeeding. If you would like any credentials, I'm sure Captain Short here will be more than happy to fill you in.

'However, I'm afraid we must leave that for later. Now, at this time of utmost danger, I will give you your instructions. We are still unsure when the attack will take place, so you must be on your guard at all times. Captain Short and I will remain here to make sure everything goes smoothly. Now, about your task...'

0 0 0 0 0

**Diggums and Day P.I. Office, Haven**

Mulch opened the bag Frond had left him in the office. Doodah had been out since the morning, and so the dwarf had had the office all to himself when Lili had visited him to give him his instructions.

_'Now, I want you to listen very carefully,' _she had said in that lovely voice of hers. _'I want you to drill in the decorations at the chosen place according to this diagram. It'll make the rock look so much prettier. Oh, and wear the clothes in the bag when you do it. OK, sweetie?' _Mulch could only nod, as she kissed him on the cheek and skipped out of the office. He knew, somewhere at the back of his mind, that something wasn't right about this, but he decided to let it pass for the time being.

'Let's have a look at what we have here...' muttered Mulch as he looked around inside the bag. There was a large, heavy circular box, and eight smaller boxes, all labeled as 'Explosive Hazardous Material: Treat with Caution'. _These don't look like decorations to me_, muttered a small voice at the back of his mind, but the dwarf ignored it.

There was also a silenced drill, a piece of paper with a diagram, a set of black clothes, and a remote control with a little note on the bottom. The diagram showed the large 'decoration' in the centre, with the eight smaller ones around it in a circle.

'Looks simple enough,' said Mulch, feeling the heft of the boxes. He then picked up the remote, and read the short note:

_When the pieces are in place, press the button.

* * *

_

And here, I leave you to ponder just what the warlocks have been called to do as you wait for the next chapter.

_Please review! Go on, you know you want to..._


	12. Murphy's Law

The action finally comes to a crescendo... Remember to R&R!

Warning: Evil cliffhanger!

_(A.N. - A few people asked whether Artemis would have any after-effects from his magic, and I'm afraid that it is so. I'm also afraid that it's not as simple as pointy ears or stunted growth, oh no... (evil grin) Ah well, it happens.)_

* * *

Chapter 11. – **Murphy's Law**

**By the rock face, Haven**

'How's your search going, Foaly?' asked Artemis, speaking into the mike inside Holly's helmet. A hologram of Foaly's face appeared in front of him, and the centaur's frustration was obvious from his expression.

'I'm still going through the abandoned chutes you suggested, but nothing so far,' answered Foaly, typing away on his computer. 'Unless Sool and Frond have managed to dismantle my sensors, we should be able to find them sooner of later. I'm not even halfway through all the chutes yet!' Artemis nodded grimly, and took off the helmet. He had instructed Foaly to search through unused chutes connected to Haven, as he was sure one of them contained the Ark of Triumph.

He looked around at the warlocks, who were positioned where Artemis had instructed them to be, and looking at the looming rock nervously. All of them were silent; even No1 and Rose had stopped talking, even though they were standing next to each other. Artemis hoped that anxiety did not dwindle a fairy's magic, as they needed all the power they could muster.

Artemis also felt strangely lonely and unprotected, as he had, albeit reluctantly, asked Butler to stay behind for this plan. Butler had always been there at the toughest of times, and to Artemis, his bodyguard's absence felt similar to the loss of a limb. They both knew that Butler was too old to be a full-time bodyguard, and that risking his life for his charge became more and more risky as time went on. Although Butler had protested, he knew that he could say nothing to change the genius' mind, and so had resignedly stayed behind with Foaly in Section 8.

Artemis was also pondering whether or not to display his magic when the time finally came. As far as the People were concerned, Artemis had lost his magic during his trip back from limbo; however, he had decided to hide his newfound powers, just in case it would come in handy. Obviously, having magic in this situation was useful without a doubt, but he had a feeling that his magic would be needed for later, for...

**_Someone_**, came a voice from the back of Artemis' head, taking him by surprise. Contemplating what he'd just heard, Artemis smiled. _I must be losing my mind, hearing voices…Especially at this most inconvenient of times, _he thought to himself. This time, he heard a cold, mocking laugh, chilling even Artemis' previously cold demeanour. Perhaps it had melted away thanks to a certain female elf.

_**Indeed, Master Fowl**, _came the voice again. _**Unfortunately for you, I have become part of you, and I am never going to leave as long as you have magic in your veins**. _

The last part intrigued the mastermind more than anything else. _As long as I have magic in my veins... _thought Artemis to himself. _So you were born when I gained magic?_ That cold laugh sounded in his head again, and Artemis had to kneel down and clutch his head as pain flooded his brain.

_**It seems you don't like that, Master Fowl**, _came the voice, chuckling. _**Returning to your question: I wasn't born, not quite. I was actually awakened when you gained magic during your rather interesting trip through time from limbo. Let's just say that I'm an after-effect of your ill-gotten magic**. _

The mastermind sighed, and stood up again. After collecting his thoughts, he thought: _And what exactly are you, may I ask? _

**_Very good question_**, answered the voice. **_To put it simply, I am your dark conscience – a devil sitting on your shoulder, if you will. I have been sleeping at the back of your mind until magic awakened me. _**

**_In ancient times, intelligent humans were given magic by the gods; however, they soon became corrupt beyond control, and so the gods punished them with their own dark consciences. Soon enough, all the humans with magic died out in reckless, outrageous and often ridiculous circumstances. _**

Artemis thought about this latest development: it certainly made sense, and it came as no surprise to him that humans had come to use their magic for their own selfish purposes. Unfortunately, that left him with a very difficult predicament: if the gods had their way, he would die some time soon, just like his ancestors.

**_I'm afraid so, Master Fowl_**, came the voice. **_To make it even worse, I am much more powerful in terms of magic and mentality than you, if you can bring yourself to accept it. One of my additional skills is the ability to read the future, which is why I suggested you keep your magic hidden for later. _**

Artemis winced, and held his head again. He had been being manipulated all along, ever since the incident with Hybras; and no matter how much he denied it, he knew that his dark conscience would soon take over his very being.

'Artemis? Are you feeling okay?' asked Holly, who had come over to check up on the protégé. Artemis kept his mouth shut and nodded, just in case his dark conscience caused him to say something unacceptable. Holly looked concerned, holding his head in her hand, and peering at his face. 'You know, you look even paler than usual, and it makes you look like that twelve year-old creep who kidnapped me three years ago. Well, six years in real time, I suppose.' Artemis smiled, and said carefully,

'Thank you for your concern, Holly, but I'm sure there are far more important things to concern yourself with than my state of health.' Holly nodded and smiled, then walked over to where Baldiran was standing to go over the instructions one final time. Artemis sighed resignedly, and stared up at the rock face looming over them.

_I hope you're going to help me to an extent, conscience, _thought Artemis. His dark conscience chuckled.

**_I'll try my best_**, came the reply. **_But remember, I am your dark conscience, and I am liable to do anything wrong in any way possible. Think of me as a personal living representation of Murphy's Law. _**Artemis sighed again, and ran his hands through his hair. _Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse... _he thought.

0 0 0 0 0

**Section 8 Headquarters, Haven**

Foaly was beginning to lose hope in his search for the Ark of Triumph. The numbers of chutes left to scan were already reduced to single digits, and fears of his scanners being removed by Frond began to cement itself into his mind. Although Butler tried to make himself useful, he usually found himself just sitting and watching the centaur work.

'It's not over yet, you pessimistic creature,' muttered Foaly to himself. 'What would Caballine think if she knew what you were thinking?' He took a long drink from his can of carrot juice, emptying it completely, and chucked it onto the mountain of empty cans in the corner. He heard Butler chuckle to his left, and tried to glare at the mud man, but only succeeded in making Butler laugh even more.

Rubbing his sore eyes, Foaly resumed his scans. However, as each scan completed and the word 'CLEAR' came up on the screen each time, he began to lose hope again. Fortunately, he finally found some luck at the very last chute.

'UNKNOWN SHUTTLE FOUND IN DORMANT CHUTE E3-54... IDENTIFING...' came Foaly's recorded voice from his computer. Foaly's shouts of celebration were heard from the other side of Section 8 HQ, and when a curious Vinyáya walked into Foaly's office to see what the commotion was, she found him doing cartwheels and front flips. For a centaur, any form of acrobatic skill was seen as a godsend; and yet here, before the Wing Commander's very eyes, was the lazy technician of a centaur showing acrobatic prowess equal to a human Olympics champion. Butler was also having a good laugh, clapping his hands and urging Foaly on through bursts of laughter.

Upon seeing his boss standing in the doorway with an expression of pure disbelief on her face, Foaly immediately calmed down, and sat back down in his chair.

'Just celebrating, Commander,' said Foaly sheepishly, turning to face the screen. 'I'd just found where the Ark of Triumph is, and... well, one thing led to another...' When the centaur looked up again, he found Vinyáya trying furiously to contain her laughter, as well as a whole crowd of co-workers who had come to see the commotion standing behind her, also facing the same dilemma.

'Maybe I overdid it a little...' muttered Foaly, turning his head to hide his blush. This pushed everyone over the top, and for the next ten minutes, Section 8 was completely open to attack as everyone collapsed to the floor in laughter. Fortunately for the People, the invasion did not come.

The beeping sound from the computer saved Foaly from further humiliation, and he gladly turned to face the screen. Just as he'd hoped, the shuttle had been identified:

REGISTRATED NAME: _THE DOLPHIN QUEEN  
_STATUS: _MISSING FOR APPROX. 7 DAYS  
_CLOSEST PATROL SHUTTLE TO VEHICLE: _P225 – Cpl. Verbil, Chix_

Foaly immediately called Trouble in Police Plaza. The commander of the LEP replied immediately.

'What's up, Foaly?' asked Trouble instantly. Foaly silently thanked the gods that someone he knew well had been placed as commander; otherwise the situation may have been very different.

'I've found Sool's shuttle,' replied Foaly hurriedly, checking his computer screen. 'According to this, Chix is patrolling that section. Have you heard anything from him?' A frown appeared on Trouble's face, dampening Foaly's cheer.

'The thing is, I haven't heard from him since two days ago,' replied the commander, also checking his computer. 'According to the rota, he was supposed to be checking chute E3-54, but he hasn't reported back. I've sent search teams out, but they couldn't find any traces of him or his ship. Foaly?'

'Is his tracking device working?' he asked. 'What about the device on the ship?'

'The tracker on his suit is working, because we can get a signal, but it's very, very faint, and we can't solidify it. As for his ship, we've lost communication completely. Someone must have disabled the trackers and the registration.'

Foaly closed his eyes and racked his brains for an answer. _What's happened to Chix? Who did it to him?, _he asked himself repeatedly. A sudden thought caused his eyes to pop wide open. _Turnball..._

Foaly quickly opened up a recording of Holly's conversation with the disgraced captain. From the way he talked about the incident, it was obvious that he had either left upon his own will or had been thrown out forcefully by Sool. Foaly did not care whether it had been one or the other; what he did care about was Turnball's means of transport he used to get away from the Ark.

'Trouble,' said Foaly. 'There's a very large chance that Chix has been kidnapped by Turnball Root. Try and get your new techie to locate him; his life may be in danger.' Trouble nodded, and closing his communicator, hurried over to the Ops Booth.

0 0 0 0 0

**Aboard the Ark of Triumph, Disused Chute E3-54**

Frond, who had been listening to the conversation through the bug she had planted in Trouble's communicator, hurried over to where Sool was standing, peering out of the large window of the conference room. Fearing that she would disturb him, Frond stood quietly beside him until he noticed she was there.

Finally, after Sool noticed her presence and smiled, she spoke.

'I've just been listening to a conversation with Trouble Kelp and that centaur Foaly,' she said quietly, fearing the gnome's rage. 'It seems... they've found the location of the Ark.' She did not mention Turnball's escape, as that would probably make Sool even angrier.

Frond's fears came true, as Sool began to enter one of his rages. His eyes began to bulge, highlighting his constantly irritated eyes; his pale face steadily began to redden; his breathing became heavy and laboured; and finally, his grip on his cane began to tighten until the sound of cracking wood could be heard quite clearly. Frond stepped back in fear as her leader began to step forward towards her menacingly.

'You told me they would never find us, my dear,' whispered the gnome sinisterly, his body beginning to shake. 'You... have... failed... me...'

Frond gasped when her back touched the unforgiving wall. She tried to move to the side, but Sool slammed his cane against the wall, blocking her way. He slowly advanced upon her, his right hand extending towards her neck.

However, just as quickly as he had transformed, he resumed his normal state. He stroked her cheek, smiling.

'I'm so sorry, my dear,' he said apologetically. 'I must remember to keep my temper in check. Anyway, even if they have found that the Ark is present in this chute, our cloaking devices from the Koboi Enterprises factory are far more sophisticated than the LEP's sensors. A patrol shuttle came straight past, and they suspected nothing!' He chuckled, lowering his cane to the floor, and gently led a trembling Frond to the door.

'Let's get closer to the action, shall we?' he whispered, directing her out of the room and towards the elevator.

0 0 0 0 0

**Diggums and Day P.I. Office, Haven**

Mulch, wearing the clothes Frond has instructed him to wear, left the office with the explosives and other kit in a large bag hidden underneath his coat. When he happened to glance at a shop window on the street, he was mildly surprised to find that he was totally invisible to the naked eye. He walked closer to the window, but could not see a reflection of himself staring back.

'Wow...' he muttered, pinching himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. A pedestrian, who had just passed by where Mulch's invisible form was standing, had to pinch himself too, to make sure the voice he'd heard was just part of his imagination. Satisfied, he continued on his way. Mulch also resumed his walk towards the rock face, readjusting the weight of the bag on his shoulder as he continued. He found a vehicle heading towards the same direction, and hitched a ride by clinging onto the back, saving quite a bit of time.

Soon enough, he was at the edge of the rock. He thought it was strange that the area seemed completely deserted, but decided that he was just lucky. He began to climb, using the pores on his skin which were desperate for water to stick to the rock, moving silently up towards his destination. Another surprise came when he found a circle marked very faintly on the rock, indicating that this was the place Mulch had to drill. He briefly considered that this was slightly too easy, but reassured himself that it was all part of the big plan he knew nothing about.

He took out the silenced drill from his bag, and began to drill the holes where the explosives would be placed.

0 0 0 0 0

No1 was the first to notice that something was wrong when a light blanket of dust landed on him, causing him to sneeze. Startled, he look up to see holes tiny holes appearing on the surface of the rock. He quickly walked over to where Artemis was standing, and whispered, 'I think he's here', pointing towards the rock. Artemis, whose dark conscience had finally left him alone, looked where the imp was pointing, and saw the holes No1 had seen, and nodded.

'Go spread the news,' whispered Artemis, and after the warlock went off to tell the others of the latest development, Artemis walked over to where Holly was preparing her Section 8-brand set of wings. She looked up, and instantly knew from the protégé's eyes that the time had come. She put on the wings and also her helmet, which immediately enabled her to see Mulch drilling holes quite clearly on the rock face. It seemed he was nearly finished, and as he drilled the final hole, she activated her shield, and flew upwards towards Mulch.

Mulch was totally oblivious to the fact that Holly was now in grabbing distance from him. He carefully took out the large explosive from his bag, and attached it to the rock by pushing the screw as far as he could into the hole. He then attached the eight smaller explosives to the rock in a similar fashion, and after briefly admiring his finished work, he took out the remote from the bag.

Holly saw the remote in Mulch's hand, and immediately swooped into action. She wrapped her arms around the dwarf's chest, and pushed herself off the rock, just as he pushed the button...

* * *

And let's hold the crescendo there until the next chapter! ;-) Oh, how evil of me... R&R!


	13. The Apocalypse Arrives

I'm sorry for leaving you in the dark for so long, and I also apologize for the shortness of this chapter compared to the others. I personally find it creates more tension as the chapters get shorter, but if you disagree, feel free to tell me. I'm going to Switzerland for a ski trip next week though, so I won't be able to read your comments for a while. Enjoy!

R&R! Although, since it's been so long, I might not be able to remember whose comments I've answered and those I haven't...

* * *

Chapter 12. – **The Apocalypse Arrives…**

**By the rock face, Haven**

Nothing. Holly stared in disbelief as the greatest anti-climax she had ever known played out before her eyes. No explosions, no unforgiving waves of water, nothing. Holly knew she should be celebrating, but instead she felt a little cheated that all her anxieties and preparations had been for nothing.

She manoeuvred her wings so it landed next to Artemis, who was also staring at the wall with disbelief on his face. The moment her two feet were firmly on the ground, she dropped Mulch and turned to the protégé.

'What happened, Artemis?' she asked, and when she realized he wasn't listening, she forcefully shook his shoulders to get his attention. 'Artemis, listen to me! Weren't the explosives supposed to blow up the rock face? Why aren't we drowning in water right now?'

Artemis stared at Holly, still in disbelief. He could still not believe that his predictions had failed him. In his mind, his dark conscience was taunting him: **_You've failed them. You've failed _her_. What are you going to do, huh? Break down and cry? Hah, that'll be rich!_**

- slap -

Artemis landed hard on the ground, his cheek stinging. He looked up and saw Holly, her hand still hovering in the air, and tears in her eyes. She immediately crouched down, and stroked the cheek she'd hit, her magic dampening the pain.

'Artemis, of all the people here, we need you to stay calm and rational,' said Holly, helping the bewildered protégé back onto his feet, and wiping the tears from her face. 'I'm so sorry I had to hit you… I guess I thought it would be the best way to get you out of your shock.' Artemis smiled, first in amazement, then thankfully, and looked into Holly's mismatching eyes. They stood, staring into each other's eyes for a long time in an almost romantic kind of way, until they realized that all the warlocks were staring at them. Some of them were smiling, while others shook their heads as human and fairy quickly stepped away from each other, embarrassed. Artemis took a deep breath, turned to face the rock face again and concentrated.

He evaluated what had just happened, or rather what _hadn't _happened: although Mulch had pressed the button on his remote, the explosives hadn't ignited, leaving them dormant on the rock face. This meant that either the remote was faulty, or… it was not designed to trigger the explosives themselves.

Artemis spun on his heel, and rushed over to where Mulch was still sat on the floor, clutching the remote. Artemis snatched it from the dwarf's hand, and taking out a Swiss Army Knife, prised it open to examine its contents. Mulch didn't complain; in fact, he just slumped over and fell asleep on the ground.

'This remote wasn't designed to trigger the central explosive,' explained Artemis hurriedly, checking the components of the remote. 'It's designed to send a signal to a receiver when the button is pushed, which means…'

'What is it, Artemis?' asked Holly, who was hauling Mulch's body away to a warlock to be checked up on. Artemis looked straight above, where he noticed a strange black shuttle hovering in the air for the first time. It was far enough from the rock to not be harmed, but close enough to watch the devastation when it occurred.

'...it means that Sool has the detonator!' cried Artemis. 'Everyone, back to your positions!'

0 0 0 0 0

Sool and Frond had arrived in their shuttle, aptly named _The Apocalypse_, just as Holly had pulled Mulch away from the rock. That instant, a beeping sound came from Sool's jacket pocket. Smiling coldly, he took out a remote which looked much more complicated than Mulch's. There was a number keypad, two key holes, a finger print scanner, and ironically, a big red button. A red LED was flashing at the top, and the beeping sound was emanating from inside the remote.

'My dear, the time has come,' whispered Sool, looking out of the window towards the rock. 'My plan is only seconds away from fruition…' He typed in a ten-digit code, ran his forefinger across the scanner, then took out two different keys from his other pocket, and unlocked both locks. The moment the second key was turned, the button began to glow, illuminating Sool's face with an ominous crimson colour. Frond looked on in fear as her chief prepared to push the button, initiating a wave of destruction and death over Haven.

Sool looked up, and saw the fear in Frond's eyes. For the first time in months, the female elf saw a glimpse of the more humane, compassionate Sool she had loved, before all his ideas of revenge had taken over. However, just as soon as it had appeared, it vanished, replaced with a mock caring expression.

'What's wrong?' he asked sweetly, his hand resting on her shoulder. She shook her head, and stared at the floor, fighting back her tears.

'Nothing…' muttered Frond, refusing to raise her head and show Sool her face streaked with the tears she could not hold back. 'Please, initiate… You've waited so long for it…'

Smiling, and completely oblivious of Frond's breaking heart, Sool raised his gaze towards the rock face. He proudly muttered, 'The end of the People has come…', and pushed the button.

0 0 0 0 0

**Disused chute E3-54**

Commander Trouble Kelp patrolled the chute in his personal shuttle, his eyes alert for the slightest movement. He had decided to personally patrol the chute, to search for the Ark. Unfortunately, he wasn't having much luck.

'Foaly, are you _sure _it was this chute?' asked Trouble for the tenth time. 'I've been back and forth about eight times, but I still haven't seen anything.' Foaly gnashed his horsey teeth, and ran his scanners for the umpteenth time; the result was the same as the first scan he'd run:

REGISTERED NAME: _THE DOLPHIN QUEEN  
_STATUS: _MISSING FOR APPROX. 7 DAYS  
_

'No, it's there somewhere, Trouble,' answered Foaly. 'Unless Frond's managed to deceive my sensors, but the chances of that are less than a million to one.'

'So you mean there's still that million to one chance, right?' retorted Trouble. 'She's already fooled your system once; she could probably do it again if she wanted to.'

Foaly could not deny that devastatingly simple fact: Frond had the ability to skip past Foaly's security systems, something he thought only one certain mudboy could do. Not everything in and under the world was ever that simple.

He thought of everything the People had accomplished with Artemis; although it hadn't been a very good start, their friendship had developed into something very strong and concrete, especially the friendship between the prodigy and Holly.

_A fairy and a human, together? _wondered Foaly, images of the first fairy-human wedding in history floating in his mind. _No, that'll never work… _Shaking his head, a certain memory suddenly made him take notice.

After Holly had resigned from the LEP due to the gnome behind the entire plot, Foaly had had a long chat with her one afternoon, trying to convince her to come back. That had been the first time Holly had actually recounted the entire adventure in detail to the centaur. One aspect seemed to stand out.

_Artemis had found Opal's shuttle by looking for an area which was lacking air particles, effectively _not _looking for the shuttle, but everything else, _pondered Foaly. An idea began to form in his head.

'Trouble, I'm about to run a different sensor check on the surrounding area,' informed Foaly, typing away on his computer. 'I think this'll work better than the other ones.' Trouble's snort of scepticism was audible loud and clear over the com., but Foaly didn't let it bother him. He ran a scan of the gaseous content of the area in the chute, and soon he hit the jackpot.

'Trouble, set your sights on 034-126-295,' said Foaly triumphantly. However, the LEP commander did not share the centaur's sense of triumph.

'It's exactly the same as any other bit of chute wall, Foaly,' muttered Trouble, disappointed. 'Are you exactly sure it's there?' Foaly checked the results from his latest scan one more time: just as he'd suspected, there was a shuttle-shaped area of nothingness floating in the air where Trouble was looking at.

'Oh, I'm sure it's there, Trouble,' said Foaly confidently. 'Now listen carefully. I want you to pilot the shuttle exactly as I instruct you to, then turn off the engines. OK?' Trouble humphed, but because he trusted the centaur, he decided to listen.

However, before Foaly could begin, a huge explosion was heard from the direction of Haven, the shock waves physically knocking the shuttle to the side of the chute. Trouble was thrown against the control panel; luckily for both him and the shuttle, nothing seemed to be broken.

'What happened?' Foaly asked, alarmed. 'Trouble, are you okay?' Trouble picked himself up and strapped himself back into his seat. _Always wear your seatbelt… _thought Trouble to himself. _Now h__ow many times have I been told that? Goddamn ironies. _

'I'm fine, Foaly,' replied Trouble, and piloted the shuttle back to the centre of the chute. 'It looks like we don't have much time, so get on with it! Where's the cruiser?'

* * *

I really need to stop haunting you with cliffhangers, but I'm afraid that's it for this chapter! R&R!


	14. By Fair Means or Fowl

Ladies and gentlemen, after a long delay (a year, no less), I bring you the most exciting chapter ever! OK, so maybe not, but I like it. Anyway, enjoy, those of you who haven't completely forgotten about this story.

_(N.B. Those of you who don't like the A/H pairing, you might not like the end of this bit very much... You've been warned. No cliffhangers, though, so you can rest easy.__)_

Warning: Slightly graphic violence ahead.

* * *

Chapter 13. – **By Fair Means or Fowl**

**By the rock face, Haven**

Just as everyone heard Artemis' cry, a deafening explosion rang out over Haven. The central explosive had exploded, setting off the smaller explosives around it. However, this blast did not completely destroy the rock, only leaving large cracks across the wall.

Holly was the first to recover from the blast, and went to check if any of the warlocks had been hurt. Artemis, on the other hand, picked himself up and dusted himself down first, before going to No1. He crouched down beside the imp, who was rubbing his head.

'Are you alright?' asked Artemis, worried. No1 nodded, and got to his feet. He raised his eyes towards the damaged rock face, which was still intact.

'Why isn't the water rushing in?' asked the young warlock. Before Artemis could answer, however, another deafening sound was heard, this time from the cracks themselves, which were steadily buckling under the pressure of the sea behind it. Artemis knew they had very little time.

'Everybody get ready! The wall will collapse at any second!' shouted Artemis, while searching out Holly among the crowd of warlocks. He found her helping Baldiran to his feet, and beckoned her over.

'We need to follow Sool's ship back to his ark,' he said to Holly. 'Can you carry me as you fly?'

Holly nodded, and said, 'Just grab onto my moonbelt. I won't try the stunt we did over Ireland, only because this is a serious situation, but on any other day…' They both smiled briefly, but immediately resumed their composure. Meanwhile, chunks of rock had begun to fall from the wall, while the cracks grew louder and louder; Artemis completed his checks, and wished the warlocks good luck, before resuming his position by Holly.

They all watched as water began to trickle through the wall, the sound of the cracks growing steadily, until…

With a tremendous crash, the rock face gave way to the wall of water behind it, and a tidal wave of unforgiving water crashed through the gap. Jagged pieces of rock flew violently in all directions, and thousands of gallons of seawater rushed behind it like a pack of starved wolves at prey.

As a group, the warlocks took a deep breath, gathered as much magic as they could from their very depths, and directed it at the oncoming water. This sudden surge of power stopped the water dead, and although some water had crashed through, the damage was minimal. While half the warlocks concentrated on keeping the water back, the other half began rebuilding the rock face by lifting up the fallen pieces of rock and placing them at the opening, sealing them there with magic - this would make the wall stronger than it had been before. With gritted teeth, No1 kept his flow of magic constant as the force of the water sapped at his strength. He glanced over to his mentor, Qwan, who seemed to be struggling under the pressure, and placed his hand on the old warlock's shoulder, transferring some of his magic. Qwan nodded his thanks to his apprentice, and returned to the task at hand with renewed vigour.

Meanwhile, Sool watched in disbelief and horror as his plan was thwarted before his very eyes. 'No, no, NO!' he screamed, smashing his cane on the control panel. Frond also looked on silently, in awe, as the wall of water seemed to hang there, rushing at an invisible barrier.

'This can't be happening,' fumed Sool. 'The plan was flawless! No one under the earth could have…' He suddenly stopped, and slowly turned to Frond.

'You…' he muttered, as he suddenly grasped her neck and lifted her off her feet. Frond couldn't scream; she could barely breathe, and was staring in terror at Sool.

'If you hadn't been so careless, Kelp and the LEP would've never found out, and this plan would be going flawlessly. But because of YOU,' he repeated, tightening his grip. 'Your slip led to the involvement of that Mud Boy Fowl, who is the one factor I never considered when I formulated this plan!'

Frond stared into Sool's eyes, silently begging for forgiveness. She could sense his mind calculating, wondering whether to kill her or to keep her for later. Just as suddenly as he had grabbed her, he let her go, where she crumpled to a wheezing heap onto the floor, while he turned to the controls of the shuttle.

'I'll deal with your later, my dear,' he said coldly, a vicious smile playing on his lips. 'But as of this moment, I want to be as far away from all this as possible.'

As the shuttle turned and began to fly away, Holly was already flying directly beneath it, with Artemis hanging on to her moonbelt. To make things easier, he was secretly using his magic to propel himself along with her, but thankfully Holly hadn't noticed.

'Don't lose it!' shouted Artemis into Holly's ear, as the shuttle picked up speed. Meanwhile, the roar of the water behind them was deafening.

'I won't…' muttered Holly between gritted teeth, and kept her body as streamlined as possible as she struggled to keep up with the shuttle above them. 'We're not far from the chutes! We don't have to go much further!' she shouted back at Artemis.

0 0 0 0 0

**Disused chute E3-54**

True to her word, they were soon in a disused chute, and the shuttle seemed to be slowing down, as the duo struggled to catch up. In the shuttle, Sool pushed a button on the side of his watch, and the Ark of Triumph seemed to appear out of nowhere in all its luxurious glory.

'Aah,' sighed Sool. 'At least I can spend the rest of my life in luxury as I plan the demise of Haven and that infuriating Mud Boy, Fowl. Provided the damn demons haven't completely destroyed the interior, of course.'

He lowered the ship onto the deck, and as he stepped onto the deck, he spotted Holly and Artemis flying towards them. His rage reignited, he glared at Frond who had stepping out behind him, and snarled, 'Prove you're still of any worth to me. Shoot them down.'

Frond nodded, willing to do anything to ensure her survival, and took out her Neutrino. She sneered as she saw Holly, the elf she hated the most under the earth, flying towards the Ark. She went as close to the side of the Ark as she could, and took aim.

Meanwhile, Holly had realised what Frond was about to do.

'Artemis…' she whispered. 'I…'

However, before she could answer, a shot rang out in the empty chute.

0 0 0 0 0

A piercing scream echoed through the tunnel as Lily Frond, beautiful and deceptively brilliant, fell over the side of the Ark and to her death hundreds of metres below. Sool spun on his heel, and stared in disbelief as one of his closest accomplices fell to her death. 'How?...' was all he could manage. A sickening _crunch_ signified her undignified end.

Holly, who had closed her eyes, felt no sudden pain; when she opened her eyes again and looked down to find no wound, she spotted Frond's broken body a long way down. The Captain was bewildered as she landed on deck, with Artemis behind her, until she spotted a familiar figure stepping out of the darkness.

'Trouble!' said Holly, unable to contain her surprise and happiness. He winked at her, then approached the former commander of LEPrecon.

'Ark Sool, you are under arrest for the attempted destruction of Haven, and the aiding of demons in their escape and attacks,' said Trouble, as he took out some handcuffs. Sool, who had been staring over the side of the ship, suddenly brandished his cane as a club and swung it against the side of Trouble's head. Taken by surprise, the Commander crumpled under the blow, and gnome turned to Artemis, who had stepped forward.

'You,' he snarled. 'Mud Boy. You may think you've defeated me, but I swear that I will return one day, and when I do, I suggest you have your affairs in order…' Having said this, he turned and opened the door into the Ark, where a group of demons were waiting behind it, led by Gristle.

'All of you!' Sool ordered. 'Kill the both of them!' He then tried to go through the gap between the demons to safety; however, the demons suddenly blocked his way, their eyes hard and unforgiving.

'What are you doing?' demanded the elf, a very small figure compared to the demons. 'Didn't you hear what I said? Kill them!'

'Oh, we heard you, little gnome,' replied Gristle, sneering. 'And we'll do exactly as you say, but later. Right now, we have unfinished business: _you_.'

Before Sool could reply, the demons were upon him, their rage stemming from his treatment towards them, tearing him apart. The final conspirator didn't even have a chance to scream, as pieces of his body were thrown overboard, until only his bloody head remained.

'I'll think I'll keep this as a trophy,' muttered Gristle, then remembered Artemis and Holly, frozen to the spot as they watched the remains of Sool being tucked into the demon's pouch. 'Oh yeah, we still have to sort out those two. I'll take the girl, the rest of you take the human.' The other demons, who didn't share Gristle's cunning, merely followed their leader's instructions, looking forward to tucking into the young prodigy's flesh.

Meanwhile, Gristle slowly approached Holly, licking his lips. 'You look good enough to eat, you do,' he said, leering. 'Why not make it easier for the both of us and not struggle?'

'I don't think so,' said Holly, slowly backing away and reaching for her Neutrino. Unfortunately, she had underestimated the demon; before she could draw, Gristle pounced on her, closing the gap between them and lifting her by her chest. She felt her ribs crack.

'Right along the jugular,' muttered Gristle, waving his claw in front of Holly's eyes. 'Nice and quick. No pain, no struggle. Leaves the flesh nice and tender…'

0 0 0 0 0

Holly closed her eyes for the second time that day, expecting death. _Killed by a demon_, she thought to herself. _Who would've thought._

'**Demon**,' came a voice from behind Gristle. '**Any last words?**'

Holly opened her eyes to see Artemis, unscathed and shimmering with magic, facing Gristle. The demon snarled, dropped Holly and turned towards the teenager.

'Last words?' chuckled Gristle, cracking his knuckles. 'Are you crazy, human?'

Artemis smiled his vampire smile, sending a chill down the demon's spine. '**Finished?**' he asked, mockingly polite. His voice seemed to have a deep undertone, a voice of evil layered with his normal one. '**Good.**' With that, he lifted Gristle off the floor with his mind, and flung him overboard. Holly watched in awe as Artemis then rushed over to help her up.

'Artemis, I…' said Holly, unable to speak. He shushed her, while checking her for wounds. She was astonished even further when she saw him heal any wounds he found, the blue sparks running down his finger and doing their magic.

Finally, when he was happy, he helped her onto her feet.

'Artemis,' she said, leaning against him. 'Your eyes. They're both blue.'

'Really?' asked Artemis, clearly fascinated by this development. He'd also regained his normal voice. 'I'll have to look into that later.'

'But…how?' asked Holly, regaining her balance. 'What you just did… You said you'd lost your magic when we came back!' Artemis looked down sheepishly, and said,

'I'm afraid I haven't been entirely truthful with you, Holly. I kept it a secret, in case it caused an uproar with the People. And anyway, I wanted to see the extent of my powers before I revealed them to you. It turns out to be a significantly more powerful than I imagined.'

Holly shook her head in amazement, then suddenly remembered the demons that had been sent after Artemis. 'What about the other demons?' she asked him. 'Did you throw them overboard too?' Artemis, chuckling, shook his head.

'No, I thought it would be more appropriate to… keep them occupied, as it were,' he said, as he stepped aside to reveal the rest of the demons. They were sitting on the deck, happily watching an episode of Teletubbies that Artemis had conjured up for them. 'I remembered watching an episode when I was young. I was appalled even by the mere concept of it, but it stuck to my mind, and it turned out to be useful later on.' Holly couldn't suppress a giggle as she spotted one of the demons clapping his hands and singing along.

'So,' said Holly, turning to Artemis once again. 'What now?'

'Well…' replied Artemis, gazing at the elf in his arms. 'We've probably got a while before the rest of the LEP arrive…' Holly sighed, and pulled away.

'Artemis, we can't,' said Holly, turning away. 'For one thing, you have Minerva to worry about, but more importantly…' She trailed off, struggling to find the courage to speak.

'I know,' said Artemis, running his fingers through his hair. 'Humans and fairies can't be in any sort of personal relationship. I'm sorry I even suggested it, Holly; it was foolish of me.'

Unknown to Holly, Artemis was struggling with the demon within him:

_**You know I can convince her! Let me out and you can be together forever!**_, it screamed. _**That's what you want more than anything else, and you know it!**_

_NO!_, he screamed back inside his head. _It will only hurt Holly and I in the long run. I can't take this any further! _

Before the darkness could reply, he pushed it deep down in his mind, keeping it there with magic. He looked up to see Holly, smiling sadly.

'I'm so sorry, Artemis,' she said, stroking his cheek. 'It's hard for me too, but I'm glad you agree with me. Can we still be friends?'

Artemis smiled back, and nodded. 'Of course,' he replied. 'We've been through too much together not to be.' He spread his arms, and Holly obliged, hugging him warmly. She looked up and saw his eye had changed colour again.

'Your eyes,' she whispered. 'They've gone back to normal.'

'I thought as much,' replied Artemis. 'I feel like my old self again. Back then I felt… otherworldly.'

Their reverie was broken when Trouble suddenly stepped up beside them, rubbing the rapidly forming bruise on the side of his head.

'Alright, you two,' grabbing their shoulders, grinning. 'Honeymoon's over. Holly, I want you to write up this incident a.s.a.p., and place the report on my desk by tomorrow. And Artemis, we need to get you home before any of the People return to find a Mud Boy in their city, next to all this water and debris. Who knows what they might come up with!'

* * *

There you have it. Threat averted. Of course, Artemis still has a lot of problems to face, but that's for another story. Two, in fact.

Now all that's left is the epilogue, and then you can be free! At least, until next time...


	15. Epilogue

Welcome to the epilogue, where loose ends are vaguely tied up, and new ends opened up in the process...

**Warning: There are some serious book 6 spoilers in the second half on this epilogue, so if you haven't read the book, stop reading when you get halfway. **

* * *

**Epilogue**

**Fowl Manor, Ireland**

Two years had passed since the Ark of Triumph incident, and Artemis was back at home in Fowl Manor, contemplating his next plan. As his absence had been short compared to the previous incidents he had been involved with, he had managed to convince his parents that he had just been to the city for a few days to buy some "essentials"; his magic smoothed over any difficulties there may have been.

Life was good for the Fowl family. He had gone to see Minerva, who had moved into a penthouse flat with her father in Dublin. Although he did not mention specifics, he made it clear to he that he had been working with the People; surprisingly, however, she did not react very much to this at all. In fact, she seemed very distracted (even his mother had mentioned it), and Artemis could have sworn that her irises were slightly jagged, but couldn't enquire further, as she quickly made an excuse and returned to her room. Artemis decided that he would investigate further, as well as the interesting detail that both his eyes turned blue when he used magic. He was also determined to see the extent of his powers, and discover any side-effects that may have arisen, apart from his dark conscience.

Then there was his relationship with Holly: after debating within himself for a very long time, he finally managed to swear to himself that he would never attempt such a risk with Holly every again. He also resolved to never mention it to anyone, and to keep it hidden deep with the depths of his heart. Of course, Holly and Artemis still kept in contact after the incident, but it was never as innocent as it had been before.

Artemis sat back in his leather chair, and sighed.

_How did my life become so complicated? _he asked himself, mentally willing his cup of tea to drift over to his hand. He took a sip, then sighed again. _Presumably the moment I was born, but I suppose it got substantially worse after kidnapping Holly…_

His thoughts were interrupted when his father rushed into his room. Before his capture by the Russian Mafia, Artemis Fowl the First had rarely visited his son's room, and when he did he always knocked. However, that had all changed when Holly had healed him, pumping him full of positive energy.

'Artemis, come quickly,' he said, catching his breath. 'Your mother is unwell. I think it's influenza, but the symptoms seem more aggresive...'

0 0 0 0 0

**Haven**

The small amount of destruction by the magically reconstructed rock face had been blamed on a burst water pipe, and no one in Haven seemed to suspect otherwise. Holly's report failed to mention Artemis' abilities, although Trouble seemed to have his suspicions. The tribunal which investigated Trouble's conduct during the incident decided that his shooting of Lily Frond had been "necessary to protect the lives of Captain Holly Short and Artemis Fowl the Second, and her resultant fall was an unfortunate coincidence", and so no action was taken against him; the irony of Sool's death in the hands of the demons did not go unmentioned either. Unfortunately, the demons onboard the Ark had disappeared, and search parties were already on the prowl.

Meanwhile, separate search parties had been sent out to find Turnball Root, but Holly knew it would be useless. Although the shuttle he'd used had been found, along with Chix tied up and asleep in the back, there was no sign of the old elf. Holly wasn't looking forward to the time when he showed his face again.

Mulch had been pardoned in his part of the events, stating that he had been under the _mesmer _of the late Captain Frond, and had not been in his right mind during the incident; Holly had spoken in his favour during the trial, and needless to say, he was now back in his office with Doodah, waiting for his next job.

And so was Holly, to an extent; now that the demon threat was mostly over, she had felt that her services were no longer needed at Section 8. Although Vinyaya had protested, Trouble had already opened up a spot for the elf back at Recon, and so Holly had returned to the LEP.

Because of her recent "adventures", she'd been placed on the rather mundane Kraken Watch, where very little of her time was spent actually watching krakens. After all, the peaceful creatures did very little apart from sleep, and so needless to say, Holly's mind began to wander.

_I wonder what Artemis is up to right now… _thought Holly. _Wait... What? I'm thinking about Artemis? Gods, I need to get a life...  
_

* * *

**After the events of book 6, the Time Paradox (If you haven't read it, stop reading HERE)  
**

* * *

**Fowl Manor**

Artemis was watching a giant fish tank he had recently installed in his room, recovering from the events that had occurred a few days before. After an LEP shuttle had deposited him back at Fowl Manor, Holly had called to inform him that Opal had escaped, and that he should be on his toes at all times. The great Artemis Fowl only had the energy to thank her before turning off the communicator.

_Not **her**_ _again_, thought Artemis, sitting back in his chair. His younger brothers were currently playing with their mother who had made a full recovery. Beckett, although initially upset over the loss of Professor Primate, had brightened up instantly when Butler bought him a replacement later that week, which could stand, pace around like a scientist, and even dance to music, thanks to some tinkering by Artemis. And now, the villain who had destroyed the previous Professor was free and dangerous. _When is that blasted pixie going to stop?_

He returned his attention to the fish tank; he found it relaxing to watch his diverse collection of fish swim about, and spent a few hours each day letting his mind run wild, coming up with ideas and plans for new exploits, while watching silently; he found it very satisfying.

It was during one of these relaxing moments when the most peculiar thing happened: he had only closed his eyes for a moment, when he heard a distinct _splash_ come from the fish tank. His snapped his eyes open, and found that a creature had magically appeared in the water; something that was definitely _not _a marine creature.

Artemis stood up and stepped closer to the glass for a closer look: it really was a strange being, resembling nothing else he had ever seen. It had a round face, with large, wide eyes, and no other distinguishable facial features. Its body was about the same shape of its head and slightly larger, with two short, stubby legs wiggling beneath it, and a large pair of wings attached to its back, the wingspan twice its height. A small three-fingered hand was attached to the end of each wing, which it was using to scratch itself at that moment. Apart from that, the only strange thing was that it seemed to be _pulsing_, as if it wasn't quite there. It was also constantly changing colour, from red to green to blue, and everything in between. That, and the fact that it was wearing an LEP helmet.

Anyone else may have cooed and aawed, commenting on how cute this mysterious little thing was. Not Artemis, however; he wanted to know more about it, and was about to climb the ladder to the top of the tank, when a deafening crash signalled the destruction of one of the walls of his study. Artemis was thrown off the ladder by the shock wave, and hit the wall behind the tank with a _crunch_.

Having stood up and dusted himself down, he looked at the destruction and groaned; his four-poster bed was completely ruined, as well as the valuable Monet painting that hung opposite. However, all these things were forgotten when he cast his eyes on the source of the destruction.

Artemis was astonished to find a small modified fairy shuttle in the middle of the destruction. A slick, matte-black vehicle, it was obviously experimental technology, and Artemis suspected that few people knew of its existence. Perhaps it belonged to Foaly.

The door of the shuttle opened, and a pair of familiar fairies stepped out. One was armed with a Neutrino, the other with what looked like lightning bolts snaking around his hands.

'Well, well,' said Qwan, putting out his lightning bolts. 'If it isn't the great Artemis Fowl the Second. My boy, you do realize that this is an incredible coincidence?'

0 0 0 0 0

**LEP Headquarters, Haven**

Holly was working day and night with a team of specially selected fairies to try and track down the whereabouts of the Opal Koboi from the past. The security at the pixie's prison in Atlantis had been doubled, the doubled again, to make sure the past Opal didn't try to break out the present one.

Currently, however, they hadn't had any luck. The past Opal had completely disappeared, and everything Foaly tried to find any trace of the deranged pixie came up negative. They were beginning to give up hope. Although Holly had suggested that they interrogate the Opal in custody to see if she remembered any of what had (or would) happened, it had led them nowhere; she maintained that she had no memory of ever travelling in the time stream, and Foaly's technology backed her up.

_At least that's one positive out of this whole affair, _thought Holly, leaning back in her chair. _The fact that she can't remember anything probably means that we were successful in the end. But at what cost?_

However, before she could follow that train of thought, the entire building was suddenly plunged into darkness.

'What in Frond's name…?' said Holly, standing up. The emergency lights had turned on, giving everything a strange orange glow. She quickly ran past the other confused members of the LEP, and burst into Foaly's office. She was shocked to see that her friend was missing.

A moment later, Commander Trouble Kelp burst into the room.

'Where's Foaly?' he asked Holly, his eyes wide. 'Please don't tell me…'

'I don't know,' replied Holly, staring at her friend's modified, empty swivel chair. 'He's just… gone!'

0 0 0 0 0

Watch out for the exciting sequel, **Artemis Fowl and the Drifter Phenomenon**, available 21 June 2009! (see my profile for more details)

* * *

All hell is about to break loose…

Everything seems to happen at once for 15-year-old prodigy Artemis Fowl the Second: a mysterious creature appears in his fish tank, instantly followed by a pair of unexpected guests crashing into the Manor. When Artemis discovers incredible truths that only a handful of the People are aware of, he is thrust into a new, incredible world of time and space…

Meanwhile, below ground, Haven is in chaos. Power to everything in the city, from mobile phones to emergency transport, has been cut by a mysterious hacker, and with Foaly missing, Captain Holly Short has no idea what to do. The evacuation of the city begins, but with terrifying results...

As Artemis becomes more and more aware of the situation below ground, he begins to suspect that the strange creature he crossed paths with is somehow responsible. He must find a way to track down those behind these attacks on Haven, as well as the link between them and the creature before its too late. But someone else is in the sidelines… Someone who shouldn't exist…

* * *

Thanks for all your comments, folks! Until next time...


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